It's Only Forever
by lisa602
Summary: It's been three years since Sarah beat the Labyrinth and Jareth somehow comes to take her back to the Underground. Her dreams of freedom are being shattered by the one person she had hoped never to see again, but in her captivity she is able to see a side of him that he'd never shown to anyone and finds that she can grow to care for the arrogant Goblin King.
1. Reflection

"Are you kidding me?!" Sarah asked her stepmother. "Did we go back in time to the nineteenth century, or something?"

This did not deter the woman who had just offered setting up a ball and inviting complete strangers to meet her reclusive stepdaughter. "Since you refuse to befriend anyone, I thought you might need a bit of a boost. Not only that but you should be dating!"

Since what happened in the Labyrinth three years ago, she hadn't found much interest in regular people and regular life. There was no adventure!

During the day she was the Sarah who acted things out, memorizing lines and daydreaming. At night, she would party in her room with her friends from the Underground without her father and stepmother ever hearing a peep or seeing them.

Sarah just rolled her eyes at her stepmother's reasoning. "It's my life, not yours!" Then she stamped off into her room.

Her room was different than it had been when her baby half-brother, Toby, was taken into the Labyrinth by the Goblin King. Instead of all the old junk and toys, she had a piano taking up part of the room and a box of costumes she'd recently bought for practice on her acting.

She'd taken up the piano to give her friends a bit of entertainment. It had been funny for them to start with, considering every time she messed up she'd give a screech of frustration about it. As she got better they, and even she, began to enjoy it.

She sat down at the piano, deciding a slow waltz would calm her down. Picking out a piece of music, she placed it on her stand, put her fingers in place for the beginning, and played. Every tension slipped away and her muscles relaxed.

This was a process that helped her out whenever her stepmother crossed the line. Sarah knew she never meant to, but she also knew that she'd be happy the moment she got out of the house for college and beyond. She'd be free at last!

Her dreams could never stray too far away for her, she could always look farther even than twenty years.

"Baby steps, Sarah," her father would remind her over and over again. "Don't set goals that are too high for you or you'll end up getting disappointed."

She gave a long, drawn out sigh. Sarah knew very well that there could be some repercussions with all her wishes. Look what almost happened to Toby! Look at all that almost happened to her while going to save Toby! Look at the place where she had been tempted to stay!... well, actually, she had to admit she'd enjoyed the Labyrinth, even with its dangerous twists and turns, and the Bog of Eternal Stench.

But she certainly wouldn't admit to wanting Jareth's terms of staying. 'Love him and let him rule me? _Not likely!_'

Sometimes she wondered if it wasn't just the "let me rule you" he'd said that had deterred her and made her more determined to get her brother and herself out of there.

"Don't think of it that way, Sarah," she mumbled to herself once more. "You've won already, stop moaning about what's happened since."

Music she hadn't heard in three years sprang up in her thoughts, the lyrics being sung were as gentle and caring as when she first heard them:

"_As the pain sweeps through_

_Makes no sense for you_

_Every thrill has gone_

_Wasn't too much fun at all_

_But I'll be there for you_

_As the world falls down_."

She stopped playing the piano and the music that filled her mind also stopped. Had she been playing that? No, she didn't know how to play the song…. Shaking her head, she put the cover over the piano keys and leaned back on the bench to look across the room at the music box that had a girl in a white ball gown posing on it.

If it was what had been making the music, it showed no indication that it had moved or been touched. Dust covered it, and Sarah hadn't ever gotten the duster to brush any of it off - had even gone so far as to tell her father and stepmother not to dust it. All it did was remind her of how hard Jareth had tried to make her forget about her quest and lose track of the limited time she'd had to save her brother.

She left it covered with dust, yet she didn't quite know why she continued to keep it. Perhaps because it reminded about just how strong she could be.

Sarah recalled the last words she had ever said to Jareth, having quoted the book she'd memorized lined from for her play. The very line she used to have a lot of trouble remembering, but what now never left the innermost pits of her mind. "You have no power over me." There were never words any truer than those.

* * *

**Goodness, so sorry about that everyone! I had decided to do something new yesterday and did copy &amp; paste instead of the usual 'choose a document'. I guess it doesn't put paragraph breaks into account :| sorry again, should have checked before I went to bed, hopefully you'll find it okay now without that paragraph problem!**


	2. Mind Games

"I'm not going!" Sarah shouted out stubbornly from inside her room. She sat in front of her vanity, finishing up leftover homework, and had only stopped to turn and yell at the door. No one understood when her decisions were final.

"Come on, Sarah, it could be good for you," her father said from the other side of the door.

"I didn't realize my stepmother had turned you over to the dark side."

"Sarah!"

"There's nothing to say about that ball except 'no!' Now go, you're going to be late."

He sighed from the other side. "Toby's in bed now. We'll be back before midnight." She heard his footsteps fade away down the stairs and the click of the door as it closed behind the two of them.

"Does anyone want to play another game of scrabble?" she heard Sir Didymus ask.

Sarah giggled and turned to see her closer friends scattered throughout the room. The others had long since stopped coming, but she never cared so long as she still had Sir Didymus, Ambrosias, Ludo, and Hoggle visiting her.

"Ludo play brother," Ludo said as Sir Didymus pulled out the scrabble board.

"Uh, Sarah?" Hoggle said, edging toward the door. "Can I talk to you.. er, in private?"

"Oh," she replied in surprise, "sure." She opened the door and they stepped into the hallway. Sarah started to get worried, in all the years her friends had visited her, none of them ever had to talk to her in private. So seriously, too. "What's the problem?" she whispered.

"I think Jareth's planning something…" he said, looking around nervously as though Jareth might pop out at them. "Something suspicious."

She quickly knelt down next to him in a panic, "What is he planning?"

"I - I don't know, that's the problem. He's been walking around lately with a - a _smile_ on his face. He hasn't _smiled _since before you beat him at his own Labyrinth!"

Sarah thought about that a bit, but she shook her head. "He can't be planning anything to do with me. I beat him, and there's no loop out of -"

"You told him he has no power over you, there's no magic or spoken deal behind that!" Hoggle practically shrieked. "He has deals with other kingdoms and they have _never _made him this happy. I'm telling you, he's up to something and it's not going to be good."

"But… he doesn't have any power over me. Jareth can't break that!"

"Sarah. He may have found some way to do just that."

She ran a hand through her hair in frustration. What could Jareth do to break her words over him? There couldn't be a loophole. And nothing would change her mind about the decision she made.

"He can't have," she finally said. "Nothing has changed since then… if there was a way out, he would have found it long before now… right?"

Hoggle groaned. But before he could reply, Ambrosias rushed out of the partly-closed door and knocked Sarah over in his wild escape into Toby's room just across the hall. The door slammed shut behind him.

"_Ambrosias_!" Sir Didymus screeched after him, showing up in the doorway.

"What happened?" Sarah asked, lifting herself up to take a look in her room. Nothing looked out of the ordinary, except the Scrabble board was on the ground with all the pieces scattered across the floor.

"I don't know! He just ran away!"

"Let me go get Merlin," she said, "you know he is always able to calm Ambrosias down." Making her way down the stairs, Sarah whistled "Merlin! Merlin?"

The shaggy dog padded his way up the stairs and followed her, panting happily. She opened up the door to Toby's room, glad that her stepmother hadn't put up a lock on it just yet. Merlin slipped right in and she left the dogs to their own devices.

There was no knowing what had scared Ambrosias so much since no one could speak 'dog,' not even Sir Didymus, but knowing Ambrosias' lack of courage it might have only been a spider.

Back in her room, Ludo and Sir Didymus were picking up the Scrabble pieces.

"Now we won't know who would have won!" Sir Didymus complained.

Sarah smiled, bending over to pick up a few pieces around the room. "It's okay, Sir Didymus. I know you would have won."

Ludo emitted a "Huh?" while Sir Didymus did a bow.

"_Thank_ you, my lady!"

"Ah, she's too sweet on you," Hoggle said with a wave of his hand.

She chuckled, picking up some more pieces that had surprisingly strewn across the room to her vanity. As she stood up, her face went just by the music box and she stopped there to gaze at it. Not a speck of dust was on it.

Standing up straight, she pointed to it, "Did any of you touch this?"

Her friends looked at the music box and shook their heads in turn, shrugging in uncertainty.

She froze, and looked at it again. The image of the dream Jareth had forced her into burned brightly in her mind, stronger than ever, along with the cleanliness of the music box. The way he'd looked at her as they danced. The way he had held her so close.

Her anger shot through. Picking it up, she stormed over to her trash can and forcefully dropped it in. When she looked back at her friends, they stared at her incredulously.

"Don't ask," she muttered, bringing the Scrabble pieces she still held to them and dropping it in the bag.

Once she'd put the bag and board into the box and put it back, she sat down at her piano to play. She didn't even take out music. Just played any old tune that came to mind and she was able to breathe normally again.

The front door opened and closed downstairs. Sarah turned around to see that her friends had disappeared, which likely included Ambrosias.

Sighing, she walked out and went to Toby's room to retrieve Merlin, sending him back to her own room.

Her stepmother hated it when Merlin went into Toby's room. She never liked him, though he was a very good dog and never disobeyed.

"Toby?" she said softly, looking in on her little brother. He still slept, thank goodness, no longer in a crib in his parents' room. He was curled up in a ball, his blonde hair disheveled, with Lancelot held tightly in his arms.

"Sarah, we're home!" she heard her father say, along with his hurried steps coming up the stairs.

She came out of Toby's room to meet him in the hallway. "There weren't any problems," she said promptly.

"Great! Now… about this ball -"

"- dad -"

"Come on, Sarah, we even bought you a dress."

She took a step away from him toward her room, "Why would you do that? I'm not going!"

"It's for you -"

"- no! I don't want to have a ball, and you two better not make one." She stepped into her room and slammed the door shut.

About a minute passed and a piece of paper was slid under the door. "They were giving these quotes out at the restaurant we dined at. I don't know, but I thought you might like it," her dad then went back down the stairs.

Sarah picked it up, "You spend your whole life stuck in the labyrinth, thinking about how you'll escape it one day, and how awesome it will be, and imagining that future keeps you going, but you never do it. You just use the future to escape the present" (John Green).

She gasped, reading it over and over again in her mind. Her dad probably thought of how all she did was dream about the future, but the fact that 'labyrinth' was a word in the quote…

Walking over to the trash can, she picked up the music box and looked it over. The posing girl still brought the memory of that dance party - was the ball her father and stepmother wanted to set up for her about to be just like it? Would Jareth show up? Would he reveal his plan, if he had one?... What was the dress they had gotten her?

She quickly made her way down the stairs. Noting the fact her father and stepmother were talking quietly in the kitchen, her eyes were drawn to the dress on the table in the center of the foyer. It was the same dress!

Closing her eyes, she jarringly shook her head a few times, and looked again. Same dress.

She walked over to it and touched the silver fabric, her mind recalling the feel of it when she'd worn it in that dream. As if it had really happened.

"Do you like it?" her father asked, coming over to stand next to her.

"It's beautiful," she said, and it was. Puffed up just enough, not too much, to be a wedding gown. The gold trim gave it the aura of a fantasy.

Her stepmother took that chance to jump in, "Not only that, but I've also got these accessories." She showed her the earrings, the necklace, and the matching hair accessories, the same as she'd last worn. How was Jareth getting into her head like this?

"Where did you get all of this?" Sarah asked her slowly.

"Oh, some nice man in a nearby shop was giving these away half-off. They were so pretty, I knew you'd look wonderful in them."

'Why is she being so nice?' "I guess you're still going to plan for the ball…"

"Of course."

In her mind, she did a mental check. So Jareth was going to play around with her. Fine, then, she'll play his game again, and win to top it off. "Can you make it a masquerade?"

* * *

**Bear with me, I know that quote from John Green wasn't published or even a thought back in that time but... you gotta admit, it's a great one and I think it gives great meaning to my story. (Parenthesis are points made that not a part of story, just wanted to cite who that quote is from)**


	3. Preparation

Sarah lay lazily on her bed in her room, wondering if she should have finally agreed to the ball. What if that was exactly what Jareth wanted her to do? Even if she hadn't said yes to it, let alone asking for it to be a masquerade, would she have won or lost that round?... now her head hurt.

"Stop thinking about it," she grumbled to herself, placing her hand on her forehead. As if that would put an end to the pain and her doubting thoughts.

She just had to tread _lightly_. If this ball was going to be anything like that dream he put her through, there were about to be mind boobytraps _everywhere_ around her. Jareth's unpredictability skyrocketed through the roof with everything he did in relation to her. With making her go through the Labyrinth in order to save Toby, and ordering time to work around her journey, he'd thought he was being generous. Hah!

Sitting up, she looked around her room. She'd grown up since the Labyrinth. No more toys, no more memoirs of her mother, just everything that she used and that was age-appropriate for her. Except for that music box.

It still bothered her how Ambrosias had run out of her room and her music box was no longer covered in three year old dust. She had thought he might have been frightened off by a spider, but with all of this now on her mind again, she thought back on it. What if Jareth had appeared in her room and only Ambrosias had seen him?

She shivered, 'Jareth better _not_ have come into my room. It's bad enough he appeared in my dad and stepmom's room three years ago.'

Sarah looked over at the alarm clock on her bedside table. Her dad and stepmom had gone out an hour ago to get the venue ready for the ball the very next day…. So where were her friends?

She'd wanted to run through what was about to happen with the ball - as much as she knew, anyway. Sure, they'd try to talk her out of it, but she wanted to let them know. And perhaps this time they could help her out with outwitting Jareth, too.

"Hoggle? Ludo? Sir Didymus? Where are you guys?" she asked softly. "I need you…"

Nothing. What was keeping them?

"_It's only forever_

_Not long at all._

_Lost and lonely_

_No one can blame you_

_For walking away,_

_But too much rejection, uh huh_

_No love injection, no_

_Life can be easy_

_It's not always swell_

_Don't tell me truth hurts, little girl_

'_Cause it hurts like hell_

_But down in the underground_

_You'll find someone true,_

_Down in the underground…_"

Sarah found herself closing her eyes contentedly until she remembered the radio wasn't on and she recognized whose voice was singing, She quickly sat up and looked around. The song ended, but she could feel a pair of eyes staring at her.

A quick look out the window showed Sarah that familiar blonde owl.

"What, you couldn't wait until the ball?" she asked, glad that her window was closed… then again, that never stopped him before.

The owl continued to sit and stare.

It suddenly dawned on her that he was there instead of her friends. "Wait… Jareth, what did you do to my friends?"

She could hear the light hooting through the window as if he were laughing.

Sarah glared, clenching her teeth. "When I see you at the ball, I hope you'll be ready for a deal." Then she proceeded to stand up and make her way across the room to close the curtains with a sharp _whoosh_.

Standing there alone once again, she sighed. 'What was I thinking offering a deal? What can I give in return to free my friends?'

'Hold on there, Sarah,' that little voice at the back of her mind said. 'Jareth didn't say that he had them.'

'Of course he didn't explicitly state that, he was an owl!... why is my brain talking to itself?' She rubbed her forehead with her index fingers. 'What can I do?'

The next day, she was startled awake by her stepmother opening up the curtains to let the midday sun seep through the room and settle on Sarah's face. She scrunched up her nose and turned around to bury her face into a pillow.

"Sarah," the woman admonished, throwing back the covers. "It's time to get you ready for the ball."

She lifted her head to glance at her clock. "At noon? It's at five, I can sleep for at least two more hours!"

Her stepmother placed her hands on her hips, "It take a few hours for hair and makeup. Not only that, but you need to take your time fitting into the dress –"

"Next you'll be telling me I need to get used to my shoes," Sarah grumbled sarcastically.

"Exactly!"

"I was being sarcastic! What kind of shoes am I wearing, anyways?... They're not heels are they?" She thought back to the dream, but she hadn't had any problems walking around nor did she have pain in her feet.

"No, they're flats. Now get out of bed, I've got to get started on your hair."

Sarah groaned audibly.


	4. The Ball

Sarah looked at her reflection in the mirror some hours later and, had she not had that dream thanks to Jareth three years ago, she couldn't say she would recognize herself. While her face was the same, except for the makeup, her hair was more voluminous after being excessively curled. Without having to tell her stepmother anything, she looked just as she had then… so why didn't that feel creepy?

She spun around at her stepmother's insistence, feeling like a fairy princess… no wait, not a fairy. Fairies were mean, apparently. No, a disney princess was more like it, the glitter was certainly there.

"Go down into the foyer to wait, I'm going to grab your father, a camera, and then we'll be on our way," her stepmother told her excitedly.

"Wait," Sarah said, "who's going to look after Toby?"

"The babysitter is here now. I tell you, it's amazing that we found her in such a small amount of time, but your father is telling her all the necessities that Toby needs. Don't worry, just go downstairs to wait."

"But -"

"_Now_, dear," she said warningly.

Sighing, Sarah made her way down the stairs. She shouldn't be worrying about Toby at a time like this - didn't _have_ to worry. Jareth had no business with him, but with her, the babysitter that was there probably _was _just a lucky find. Jareth would be at the ball. She was sure of it. Positive about it.

A peek wouldn't go amiss, either.

She had been walking down the stairs, but now she picked up the front of the dress to go sprinting back up. Peeking into Toby's room, the girl there looked very normal. While Jareth might be a master of disguise, there was no way he could have made a human face look so realistic. The girl was plain looking - that seemed to be in order.

Her father noticed her scrutinizing gaze, causing the girl to turn and look at her. Yup, definitely normal. "Go downstairs, Sarah," her dad said, "Toby will be fine."

How could she disagree with that reassuring smile of his? She nodded and walked down the stairs once more. Since that was all fine, she thought again on what she might trade to save her friends - if he did, indeed, kidnap her friends. But… what if she was worrying over nothing? This might just be the easiest night of her life, perhaps even easier than the Labyrinth.

She smiled, thinking, 'It still was a piece of cake, no matter what trouble he put me through just for saying it.' Then she became pensive again, 'Besides… I have nothing to trade with him if he has my friends. There's nothing I have that he wants, so I'll be safe. Yet, what does he want in terms of why he's somehow gotten it in my head to have this ball tonight? Why now? Why at all?'

"I hope you're not planning on making that face at the ball, you're guests are going to be too scared to approach you," her stepmother said, walking down the stairs.

Sarah frowned, "What look?"

"You're brooding. Never brood for parties. Be alive and alert, always smiling." Her gestures along with this lesson caused Sarah to cock an eyebrow and wrinkle her nose.

"Just be lucky I agreed to it, okay? I didn't sign up for this to become a little Pollyanna who is always looking on the bright side of everything."

"Well, why not? You're a great actress, surely you can at least pretend to be a happy, joyful being while you're there. A social outing could do you justice, and even get you a respectable boyfriend. Now, don't you want that?"

'So a compliment and then an assumption. Clever.' She nearly rolled her eyes until she thought on it. What if she pretended to be so involved in talking to other people that it would make Jareth think he hadn't gotten into her head after all? Well… actually her conversation at him last night probably did the trick. Ugh! He always seemed to be one step ahead! How?!

"Come on, we don't want to be late," her father said, rushing down the stairs.

They went outside into the cool night air. Sarah stood on the porch step for a moment and breathed in the fresh air. Let it out. She wanted to be as clear-headed as possible. Who knew what sort of ordeal this would be?

The ball. Held in a large ballroom in this big four star hotel, decorated with gold and white balloons and looking… well… like that dream. A very prestige, very fancy room that, at that moment, was full of people in masks. She'd nearly forgotten that people were going to wear masks, except for her - and as far as she knew, Jareth would not wear a mask unless he was planning on seeing if she would become uncomfortable with the tension of waiting for him to show up.

No, no tension at all, she was going to be completely relaxed.

Sarah's stepmother immediately brought her around the room to socialize with everyone. She had no time to spare even a second thought for running into Jareth, her thoughts went right into remembering names and making conversation.

Tall guys, short guys, funny guys, dull guys, smart guys… it was almost scary how different they all were from each other. That and, well, they were all nearly too perfect, she felt so meager in comparison to them with her flaws. She didn't feel comfortable with them for that very reason, like they were out of her league. It was so unfair.

Dancing the night away; she now knew what that was like. It wasn't exactly exciting to see a new face each time and to continue moving. Her feet were getting sore.

Another dance later, she snuck away to the refreshment table and took a seat next to it. She picked up a glass of punch and brought it to her lips, took a sip. She didn't realize how many guys would ask her to dance with them, always thought her stepmother was just appealing to her good side whenever she told her how beautiful she was. But still, she wasn't flawless…

All these men flocking to her after every dance reinforced her image of the nineteenth century when women chose their suitors by going out to parties to find eligible bachelors. It's just that for this, she was apparently looking for a boyfriend and _not_ a husband.

Would this sort of party be a part of Jareth's world? It seemed like it was, considering the dream he'd put her through, and that such a glimpse into his world had been his first invitation for her to join him. If her decision had been to stay, what would she be doing right now instead of being stuck with her stepmother's vain hopes for her stepdaughter?

She vigorously shook her head. What was she _doing_, thinking like that? First time Jareth goes through her mind all night and she thinks of three years ago, thinking of a different decision she could have possibly made. Unbelievable! He had no power -

"Sarah," a soft voice broke into her thoughts.

Her head snapped up to look around only to see no one there. Literally. Everyone that had been in the room disappeared, and there was no trace left that there had been any party… only her father and stepmother looking like they were caught in a trance.


	5. A New Deal

She jumped to her feet in horror. An illusion. She was played like a puppet! Of course! Well, at least she wasn't under any sort of spell… she better not be. "Jareth…!"

Jareth walked up to her from the deepest shadows of the room. The first time she'd seen him in three years and he had the gall to smirk!

He still had that long, wild blonde hair, and wore the bedazzled outfit that he'd worn in the dream. It was black with sparkly blue fabric on the arms of his jacket, white ruffles from the neck down his chest, and blue and black jewels along his shoulders. The sickle shaped pendant hung around his neck as always.

"What do you want from me?" she asked coldly.

"My, Sarah, you act so hostile. Are you not happy to see me?"

"I wouldn't act in any other way after what you put me through… but, you didn't answer my question. _What do you want from me_?"

"Isn't it obvious?" he asked.

She raised an eyebrow at him suspiciously. "No…" she replied slowly.

He smiled mischievously, taking out a crystal and rolling it around in his hands. She hated how mesmerizing it was. She couldn't think straight when he did that, and he obviously knew it.

"Sarah, what did I ask you for last time I saw you?"

She clenched her hands, remembering very clearly his last proposition:

"_Stop! Wait! Look, Sarah. Look at what I'm offering you," he took out a crystal and held it out to her. "Your dreams." _

_She continued, recalling each word of the speech as she spoke. "And my kingdom is great."_

_Jareth began getting desperate. "I ask for so little. Just let me rule you, and you can have everything that you want."_

_Sarah paused, trying hard to remember the next line. That one line. "Kingdom is great…damn! I can never remember that line."_

_Jareth looked nearly relieved by this as he said, "Just fear me, love me, do as I say, and I will be your slave."_

"_My kingdom is great…my kingdom is great…" Suddenly, Sarah remembered it and looked up at Jareth triumphantly. "You have no power over me. You have no power over me!" _

"Oh, that…." One glance at her father and stepmother showed her that they were still under his spell. "But I'm sure you know that my answer is still no. _You have no power_ -"

He quickly cut her off. "It won't be any longer. See here, Sarah, I have your parents under my control. Everything about this ball has been an illusion… even the babysitter." Every bit of information was a stab to her chest. Toby…. How could she not have realized all the unrealistic ways in which her stepmother found everything?

"And…" he held out his crystal for her to look into it. "About last night…. You assumed correctly. I have your friends."

Hoggle, Ludo, Sir Didymus, and Ambrosias were standing around in a thick, wooden cage, shaking it about and screaming to get out. Below them bubbled the Bog of Eternal Stench. Goblins were off to the side, holding the rope to keep them from falling in.

"You're horrible!" she bursted out. "You can't do this!"

"I just did," he said nonchalantly.

"But -"

"This ball did just what I wanted it to do. You changed your mind. And that shows exactly the amount of power I truly have over you… all the power in the world, Sarah."

She shook her head in denial, "No -"

"Every time you are alone, you get so close to thinking about the decision you could have made. I have been there each time to push you in that direction, but you are always able to push away from it. Once I brought the Labyrinth into your surroundings, you began to open up… and now you're mine."

She backed away from him. "You can't do that. Why can't you just leave me alone? Just - just let them go and leave me alone, I'm not going _anywhere_ with you!"

He didn't answer right away. Instead rolled the crystal ball around in his hands again, looking at her with those eyes that pierced her soul.

"Did you hear me?" she asked through gritted teeth.

"Put it this way, Sarah:" he said, walking around her almost as though it were an interrogation. "The more you resist and reject me, the more you force my hand. Choose wisely; either way, I win." Jareth gave a knowing smirk, infuriating her even further.

Her chances of leading a normal life were going down the drain."How - how about a deal?"

He shook his head, chuckling. "No more remembering lines from a book to help you deal with me, Sarah, I want you to be my queen. So here's the only deal I'll offer; come with me. Live in my castle at the center of the Labyrinth with me and I will allow for life to go on as normal for this family of yours."

She shifted her gaze from him to look at the crystal warily. "And… And save my friends from the Bog of Eternal Stench?"

Jareth smiled, "Of course."

Sarah took a deep breath. She did _not_ want to do this… after all this, was she really about to go back to the Labyrinth and _stay_ there? But…. well, what else could she do? If she wouldn't be able to say the line that would save her from him just because her mind somehow thought something else… then again, how would Jareth know that?

"Just don't intrude in my private thoughts again," she mumbled. He went to stand in front of her, and held out the crystal.

"We have a deal?"

She glared at him, though knowing the action wouldn't help her in the least. He continued waiting. Since when did _he_ get over his impatient nature?

"Deal," she finally said, her hand shaking as she took the crystal from him and held it out before her. She gasped as it turned into a bronze ring with topaz-colored rock on top of it… the ring she'd given away three years ago in the Labyrinth.

Around her, the party started up once again, and she numbly watched as Jareth made his way through the crowd to speak with her parents.


	6. Complications

"What in the world did you tell them?" Sarah asked, her father and stepmother waving to her with a mixture of pleasure and sorrow as she walked out of the ballroom with Jareth. "They act like I'm about to become famous." In other words, tears had been shed and congratulations been given.

"That's unimportant when you won't be returning."

"Fine, then," she growled.

He glanced at her. It was such a look that she thought he was about to comment on her anger. "You aren't wearing your ring."

"That's a wonderful observation," she replied sarcastically, reminded of the fact that she still held it in the palm of her hand.

He frowned.

"Look, it's obvious you've given it back to me as some sort of engagement ring, but I would like you to do me a favor before I put it on."

He stopped walking, turning to face her. "And what would that be?" He seemed offended.

"Just give me a few days," she said. "I need that much time to let this… deal of ours sink in. Speaking of which, can I see for certain that my friends aren't in a cage above the bog anymore?"

Jareth's smile at that moment wasn't one that Sarah had seen before. Kind and loving. "Here," he made a crystal appear from behind his clasped hands, and they both watched the scene. Her friends were out, but something was wrong. They _and_ Jareth's goblins were being rounded up by ogre-like creatures holding wooden clubs.

Sarah looked up to see that Jareth's reaction was dark. He was as surprised as she was.

"We must hurry," he said suddenly, grabbing her hand and running to the double door exit of the hotel. She never thought she would ever see him run, let alone drag her along with him.

The doors opened out into the desert area just outside the Labyrinth, right where Sarah had first started out in her journey to save Toby.

"Jareth… what's going on?" she asked nervously. She looked down to see that her outfit had changed to blue jeans and a white, billowy shirt. Was _everything_ about to be like it had been when she first went there? She reached into her pocket, dropping the ring in there for later.

Jareth's clothes had changed to the usual black boots, black and sparkly jacket, a baggy shirt, and the large black cape that had always remind her of a bat. He wasn't surprised by this, had done it so often that she wondered if he ever physically did anything for himself. New clothes always just _appeared_ on him, and he could transport anywhere. In fact, why were they outside of the Labyrinth instead of where her friends were?

Sarah could see his frustration, was interested to note to herself that he wasn't throwing a tantrum or cursing. He looked so conflicted that she wasn't sure what else to say in order to get some information from him about what was wrong.

He finally spoke. "There's a reason I usually don't stay in your world for more than a few hours."

"Why?" she asked, leaning against a lone tree nearby.

"There are always repercussions with those I leave in charge while I'm away."

Sarah wasn't sure what that meant. Who did he leave in charge? What was happening? "What are you talking about?"

"I spent all that time trying to bring you back here, I didn't think to check on my subjects…"

He left his goblin subjects alone and that allowed for someone, or something, to take over his throne? "Can't you just teleport us into the Labyrinth and win it back?"

"Don't be naive, Sarah," he said sharply. "The magical abilities I have - _had _\- come with control of the throne. I was able to use the last bit of magic I had to get us here… and now we're stuck."

"So, _you're_ saying that _I'm_ the reason we're in trouble now?"

"If you had just accepted my proposal five minutes earlier, we wouldn't be in this mess."

Sarah nearly laughed at how he had turned their whole predicament around on her. "If that was _true_, then this is the first time I feel like I've been doing something right all night."

Jareth scowled.

"Well, it looks like you and I will have to make our way through the Labyrinth the hard way," she mused.

He shook his head, "We'd need an invitation in order to get in. Anyone in power of the throne has to give permission in order for outsiders to get in."

She snorted. "Didn't look like that stopped whoever took over your throne." Sarah then proceeded to stand up and make her way to the Labyrinth much as she had the first time. 'Come on feet...'

She'd hardly gone fifteen feet before Jareth called out her name. He was still at the top of the hill.

"I can't hear you!" she called back with a small laugh. Just because she took his deal didn't mean she had to be obedient to him.

* * *

**Hey guys, lisa602 here, I know this is a really short chapter but I've got a really great chapter coming up after this! Still, everything is getting infinitely worse for Sarah and Jareth, so some adventures are coming!**


	7. The Journey's Beginning

Jareth caught up to her at the bottom of the hill, moody and snappish. "Didn't you hear me? We can't get in without an invitation from -"

"Does it look like I'm listening?" she snapped back. Then she sighed, trying to be reasonable. "Look, we have to try _something_. We can't just mope around in the middle of the desert feeling sorry for you. I want to save my friends, don't you want to save your goblins? Don't you want your _throne_ \- your _powers_ \- back?"

His lips tightened into a thin line, and he looked at the wide span of the Labyrinth before them.

"I thought so," Sarah said before he could reply. She looked at it as well, trying to figure out where the door had been last time. She recalled asking Hoggle, having first met him then, and her mind diverted to wondering how he was at that moment. What was going to happen to him and the others?

"The door is here." Jareth's voice snapped her out of her thoughts. She looked to the blank wall that he was pointing to. "We can't get in."

"If there's _one_ thing I learned from going through this Labyrinth…" Sarah said thoughtfully, walking up to it. "It's that nothing is ever as it seems." She held up her hands, holding them against the door, searching around for a handle. She remembered the door had opened outwards last time, so when she found the handles hidden by moss and grabbed hold of them, she pulled the door open with ease. The Labyrinth was open to them.

"That's not possible…" Jareth said softly.

"I guess you don't understand your own Labyrinth as well as I do," Sarah replied in a sing-songy voice. She had been right! It felt good. She stepped through, not surprised to see that both directions - whether right or left - looked as though they went on forever. Easy… she just had to sort of walk alongside the wall to find one of those openings… perhaps go to right as she had before, and stay on the right wall since she knew there was one on that side.

As she started to do just that, Jareth grabbed her arm.

"This isn't safe, Sarah, we need a new plan!"

"Oh, really? Well, how about you stay back here, finding a safe way to get the Labyrinth back, while I go the hard way?"

"You can't go through it alone, there are many dangerous -"

"I did it once before, and I started out alone -"

"That was different, if you were in any true danger I would have saved you -"

"I don't believe that with the way you're acting -"

"I'm trying to _protect_ you -"

"I don't _need_ protection -"

A growl sounded… Jareth and Sarah paused, breathlessly listening for it - whatever it was - to make the sound again… It sounded again, off to the right of them, and Sarah instantly bolted to the left. A roar deafened the air and she saw heard Jareth start running. The padding that was far behind them had to be whatever monster was now following them. She chanced a glance over her shoulder to see something that looked part-lion and part-goblin. With the feet and tail of a lion, the rest of it all goblin-looking… it was absolutely _ugly_.

"What is that thing?" she asked Jareth.

"How would _I_ know?" he returned.

She gaped at him, "You didn't know this _thing_ was in your Labyrinth?"

"If it ever has been, it's never showed itself - it must have been brought in by whoever stole my throne!"

Great… a guard dog.

"I _told_ you we should have waited to come up with a better plan!" he said. "There's no knowing what sort of creatures outsiders will bring in!"

"Oh, _shut_ up! I get it!" she retorted and she ducked under branches and hopped over branches.

He looked in the distance and said, "All right, when I say 'jump,' we're going to hurtle into the wall on our right side!"

"Is there an opening?"

He rolled his eyes, "Yes!... Now… ready… set… _jump_!"

Sarah closed her eyes as she threw herself into the wall, bracing for the impact of the wall just as she slammed into it. Jareth hit into it after her, and she watched as the thing ran past them at full speed. The opening branched into two other different directions, but she stood where she was, trying to catch her breath.

"Th-Thank you…" she said quietly, holding her hand to the stitch in her side. "I don't think we could have continued running for much longer."

He nodded, "We'd best keep moving if we're going to get through this Labyrinth without getting eaten."

She gave a light laugh. "Lead the way, Goblin King."


	8. Lost

"I'm pretty sure we're going around in circles…" Sarah said softly, looking at the familiar surroundings. Jareth gave her an annoyed look and she held her hands up, "Not that I'm criticizing your sense of direction, but this Labyrinth _is_ ever-changing."

"It shouldn't be changing so much that we're left in circles though… if it had done this when you were finding your way through, then you would have _never_ made your way to the castle."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Are you just now telling me that I had it easy and yet you _still_ expected me to lose?"

"I didn't say _that_," he snapped. "It was still hard, just not impossible."

"Oh…" she said thoughtfully, stopping to look at their surroundings. She hadn't been to this part of the Labyrinth before - except that they were now stuck in it.

Dark, spindly trees surrounded the path they were taking, and it only went around in a circle - by the direction they walked in - to the right. Torches stood on either side of the path, lighting the way. She looked to the left of the path, knowing that the trees the right of the path would just be a circle of trees in the middle of the circular path.

"Well, what if we were to go _off_ the path?" she asked.

"Out of the question," Jareth replied curtly.

"Going into the Labyrinth was out of the question, too," she mumbled, thinking about how easy it had been to get in.

"And look at where it's left us."

He was still blaming her… unbelievable! "If it wasn't for me, we'd be stuck in the middle of the desert. Right now, we're in the midst of trees - which is infinitely better - and it's not your Labyrinth anymore. Whatever changes have been made by the new ruler, we can't also get stuck in circles."

"We also can't get stuck in the wilderness off of the path. Sarah…" he said, looking at her with his 'kingly' sense of authority. "I forbid it." He started to follow the path again, but Sarah rolled her eyes.

"You and I made a deal, that's true, but you only said that I'm to come live with you in the castle. That 'do as I say' was the old deal that I turned down."

He stiffened and turned to look at her. "Sarah, don't - _Sarah_!"

She backed up into the surrounding forest and was instantly engulfed in darkness. Once her eyes adjusted, she looked around in surprise that she could see the path anymore. She walked forward to where it had been, but it was gone. Fear filled her as she looked around her. There was no light, and sounds seemed louder than before.

"_Jareth_!"

Her shout echoed through the trees, shaking some leaves and scaring a group of some strange-looking ravens out of their tree perches.

Sarah took a deep, shuddering breath and started walking through the woods. The sharp edges of the tree branches seemed to be so much more in focus up close, like the hand of a witch from children's storybooks.

"Okay, okay…." she said quietly, continuing her walk through the woods. "I was wrong to come in here, I guess being right the first time kind of got to my head. -"

A bat screeched nearby. She flinched.

"_Really_ got to my head…. Ooh, where is that _path_?"

Something cackled nearby, influencing Sarah's mindset about evil witches. She instantly picked up a nearby stick and held it out, looking wildly around her for the source of the noise. Tree, moss, tree, then she saw a creature staring back at her.

It reminded her of one of the creatures in Jabba's palace in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. It was small, with reddish-brown sort of fur - lighter than Ludo - yellow, hawk-like eyes and a wide beak. She didn't lower her stick, though she thought she recognized it as one of Jareth's goblins.

It didn't make any moves. Only lay against a tree, and when looking down at its legs did she see that it was bleeding.

"Are you one of Jareth's goblins?" she asked.

It cackled, "Of course I am! Now what sort of crap are you trying to threaten me with?" It's high-pitched voice was almost like the hat of the wise man she'd given her ring to - was as irritated as it was, too.

She could have laughed, she was so relieved. Dropping the stick, she asked, "How did you get away from those trolls, or whatever they were?"

"I didn't, they hit me with an arrow!" it said, picking up an arrow that it had probably taken out itself.

"I mean that they didn't take you with them… wherever they're taking the prisoners is where they would have taken you had you not gotten away…."

"Ah, I see - yes, I did get away, but not unharmed!"

"Do you know where they're taking the others?"

"How would I know that? I didn't risk my life once again to follow them, I ran away until I couldn't bear the pain anymore!" it screeched.

"I'm sorry…" she said softly, sitting down next to it. Ripping off a part of one of her sleeves, she set it out straight across her lap.

"What are you _doing_?"

"I thought I might use my sleeve as a bandage for your leg… would you allow me?" she asked, holding out the strip of fabric. "Or do you want to do it yourself?"

"Even if we put it on, I can't _walk_ anywhere!"

"I can carry you! Besides, you've been losing a lot of blood."

It stared at her face for a while and then nodded, pushing its leg out so she could wrap the fabric around it.

"I'll be careful," she told it, gently taking its furry leg and binding it. "This'll work for a while until I can find Jareth. We need something to clean up your wound, which I sadly don't have."

"Why do you care about me so much?" it asked.

"Because… well, I like helping others, and I want you to get better. I don't like seeing anyone hurt and without hope." She finishing wrapping it, the fabric soaking up the blood, and said "Brace yourself, this might hurt" as she tightly tied it up. "You are quite the trooper. You handled that hurt leg very well."

Sarah thought she saw a small smile on its face.

"Do you think you would be all right on my shoulder?" she asked. It nodded, and she gently picked it up, seating it upon her shoulder. Its hands held on to her shirt in case of falling.

"Did you say that you were going to find Jareth?" it asked.

"Yeah, I came here with him… I'm the reason, I suppose, that someone took over the Labyrinth in his absence." She started walking along, ducking under low-hanging branches while being sure that the goblin didn't fall off her shoulder.

"Hm… he's lost all his magic now, eh?"

"Yeah," she said softly. "And I haven't been very nice to him, I veered off of the path when he told me not to because I thought it might get us somewhere besides walking around in circles. The moment I left the path, I was gone… I might never find him again, because I don't know if he tried to follow me."

"There's going to be a lot more than just paths moving around in circles the more you move forward." The thing paused, as though contemplating its next sentence. Then "There is no doubt in _my_ mind that he went after you. That king has cares more about you than he does for us goblins… and I can see why."

Sarah smiled.


	9. New Territories

"Oh, wait a minute, I didn't get your name!" Sarah said to the goblin as she walked through the woods. It had been a while since she found it, and she had only been thinking of it as 'it.' She felt like she was deliberately being rude.

"You ask me this _now_?"

She giggled, "I'm sorry, I've been lost in thought - but, you could have just told me. I mean… you must know _my_ name after all the ruckus I caused in the Labyrinth three years ago."

"Aye… I hadn't thought of it either! Jareth never refers to us by name - perhaps never even remembers."

"Well, I guess he had a lot of business to conduct that it's hard to think of anything else," Sarah said, uncertain as to why she was even defending the Goblin King. She hadn't wanted to come back to the Labyrinth in the first place! "In any case, I'll be living here in the Labyrinth too, so I'll be sure to remember everyone's names… your name?"

"Call me Serboa."

"Sir Boa?"

"No, no - _Serboa_. It's one word."

"Oh… Serboa. I like it."

"Uh hah! And be sure to remember it like you promised!"

She giggled, "I will." Sarah continued walking in a straight line, and was sure to look around often. She did _not_ want something sneaking up on her. What she did notice was that the trees were beginning to peter out and turn into grasslands. A path opened up through grass as tall as Sarah, and she walked through it with the hope that it had an ending to it.

"_Aye_, watch it!" Serboa screeched. The grass had become taller than Sarah by then, some of the strands of grass leaned over into the path. One of them had smacked both of them in the face.

"Sorry!" Sarah said, pushing many strands out of the way. "At least there's a path here… I hope it doesn't go around in circles as well."

"You never know… it might just do that."

"I know," she mumbled.

"Wait…." Serboa said softly. Sarah immediately stopped, surprised that he had used such a quiet tone. His ears twitched as he looked around. "Someone's com - _eeeeek_!"

Sarah was engulfed by a pair of arms. "Jareth!" she said in shock, struggling to keep Serboa in place on her shoulder. Well, she found him! But she certainly hadn't expected _this_.

When he pulled away, he instantly looked at her sternly. "I told you _not_ to go off the path!"

That downgraded pretty quickly. "_Really_, Jareth, _really_?"

He crossed his arms.

"I'm not a child. Anyways, if I hadn't gone off the path, we'd still be going around in _circles_!"

"Neither of us would have been lost!"

"I wouldn't have found one of your goblin subjects and taken care of the injury he sustained from the trolls!"

Jareth paused and looked at the goblin on Sarah's shoulder. "Sebbi -"

"_Serboa_," Sarah noted adamantly.

"Serboa," he repeated, "how did you get away?"

"I didn't, they hit me with an arrow!"

Sarah giggled at this.

"I see that you're _injured_, but I am asking how you snuck out of their grasps."

"I didn't sneak very well, they saw me and shot at me!"

"You've got to ask the right question, Jareth," Sarah said with a small smile, recalling trying to get into the Labyrinth the first time and having to ask Hoggle about how to get in. He'd noted at how vague her questions got each time she tried to get the answer out of him. "You're not king anymore, so you've got to work as hard as I do to get to the center of this Labyrinth."

He sighed. "Serboa, can you tell me about your escape plan and how you executed it?"

"Yes," Serboa replied with a nod.

"So _tell_ me about your escape plan and how you executed it."

Serboa rubbed his hands together excitedly, as though what had happened was his greatest adventure. "First, they began rounding us all up, even the friends of Sarah," he began, with a glance at Sarah. "It was when they began to chain us together that I knew I must act quickly. That fox was causing a lot of trouble for the trolls -"

"Sir Didymus!" Sarah said in a worried whisper.

"He was challenging them all to duels, brave idiot, but had already lost his weapon to us when we put him and the others in the cage above the Bog of Eternal Stench. While they were busy trying to tranquilize him - he was a very slippery fox, mind - I looked over at a pair of bushes and quickly leapt in. They hadn't noticed I was gone, it should have been easy. However, once they tranquilized the fox and got everyone else chained up, they began moving away… I moved too soon, I admit. There were guards at the back of the group who turned once they heard the rustling of the bushes, I didn't want them coming over and grabbing me so I ran for my _life_! Many arrows were shot at me, and one did get me, but I kept running until I knew they wouldn't come after me."

"How come they were aiming to kill _you_ and not Sir Didymus? I know how troublesome they would find him to be…" Sarah said softly.

"That Sir Didymus is no fleer, and they knew that. They can handle his attempts at challenging them, no problem. But if a prisoner runs away, they are the ones that will cause the most trouble and delay if they try to catch them every time they get a chance to get away. They want no one to get away from them, so anyone who tries gets killed."

At Sarah and Jareth's inquisitive looks, he elaborated.

"Overheard them talking about boss' orders."

"You speak troll?" Jareth asked.

"Well, I _am_ your language interpreter. Or was."

"It's not that I forgot, I just didn't think anyone but trolls could speak troll."

"That is mostly true, I can't speak it. But some goblins, like me, are able to learn how to distinguish the differences and the sometimes-hard-to-understand language that they use. At some point, I thought they said they wanted root beers, but the other translation made more sense in saying they were going to be paid really well to do this job."

Jareth nodded.

"You have root beers down here?" Sarah asked.

"Not the sort that your world makes," Jareth replied.

"Hm…." She bit her bottom lip as she thought about the story. "Wait! What about Ambrosias?"

"Who?" Serboa asked.

"Sir Didymus' dog. He's white and gray, very shaggy, and very _very_ cowardly. Please tell me he didn't try to run away and -" she couldn't even finish the sentence.

Serboa contemplated that, and then smiled. "Now that I think about it, when we released your friends, the dog went and disappeared. This Sir Didymus called out for him often until the trolls came along. The dog, Ambrosias, is probably completely safe."

"We've got to find him, heaven knows how scared he must be on his own!" Sarah said, starting to walk in the direction she'd been going before.

"Where are you going?" Jareth asked. "There's nothing down that way, I've been spending hours trying to find you there. We should go the way you came from."

She turned around, "It's the same from my direction as it is yours?!… oh no, _now_ what are we going to do?"

"Why not go off the path again?" Serboa asked.

"_No, not again_," Jareth replied.

"Actually, yes," Sarah said, looking up at him. "If we do it all together, we'll end up in the same spot and won't lose each other again."

"Ah ah ah," Serboa noted. "You can't just walk out at the same time and expect that to work. Some part of you has to be touching, like how I am sitting on your shoulder. Holding hands as you walk off the path should keep us all together."

Sarah and Jareth glanced at each other awkwardly.

Serboa let out a soft growl, "You don't all want to be stuck in circles or losing each other hundreds of times do you? That's all this Labyrinth will be if we don't go off the path together."

Jareth only looked expectantly at Sarah as she contemplated it. She was going to have to be with him for the rest of her life anyways, so there was no point in acting like he had cooties… well, he _did_ hug her. Since he had no problem with it, she knew she shouldn't. Serboa obviously knew it too!

He held out his hand and she slowly held hers out to take it. His hand was soft but strong, she noticed, as the two of them nodded at each other and stepped out into the grass. The path disappeared and left them surrounded by grass.

"I almost expected to end up in a desert," Sarah noted, about to pull her hand away.

Jareth kept tight hold on her hand.

"Jareth -"

"I don't trust this," he said, "I hear rustling."

"Please, there were _lots_ of rustling in the forest that Serboa and I had to endure."

"Sarah, this is the Labyrinth… there is no rustling except to show that someone is following you."


	10. Jocelyn Crowe

"Well, well… I guess you understood your Labyrinth after all," a melodic voice said, chuckling mischievously.

Jareth's face whitened and he growled, "Come out, Jocelyn."

From behind the forest of grass surrounding them came a woman about as tall as Jareth with long, sleek black hair and a beautiful blue dress with mirror-like white sequins at the bodice. Her black cape matched her hair and trailed behind her as she slowly walked toward them. Her smile was triumphant, yet sneaky.

Jareth pulled back Sarah until she stood behind him, so quickly that she felt surprised and could only watch the confrontation.

Jocelyn laughed. "You really think you can protect her now? Perhaps when you were still on the throne, but right now?"

"What did you take the throne _for_?" he asked. "You already have very strong powers."

"So long as you were in the Labyrinth, I could not get in. But with all the time you spent away in that girl's world, it was a piece of cake. The only powers you have without your Labyrinth are with your crystals, which," she gave a light laugh, "can't help you very much. Now I can easily destroy you…"

"How do you intend to do that?"

"Find your way to the center of the Labyrinth for your final showdown against me, if you dare. If you want to continue living, leave. Live the rest your life with this mortal girl in her world… Which way will you take your journey, Jareth the Goblin King?" She picked up her cape and flipped it in front of her, suddenly transforming into a crow and giving a sort of cackle before flying away.

They were left in silence.

"This is very bad…" Serboa said. "Jocelyn Crowe is now completely unstoppable. Your best choice at survival would be to get out."

"Even if we wanted to leave, how does she expect us to do that?" Sarah asked.

"Your intentions are what push you in or out of the Labyrinth," Serboa replied.

"Well… I don't know about you and Jareth, but I have _no_ intention of leaving the Labyrinth without a fight."

Jareth spoke in a harsh tone. "Do you see how powerful she is now? I have no chance at beating her."

Sarah took a deep breath. "If you and I are going to have any chance at getting along, you're going to have to stop treating me like an idiot." Jareth instantly looked down at their combined hands. "If you really, truly fell in love with me, I doubt it was because I was dumb. I beat you three years ago, so it must be possible to beat her too."

"Sarah… she has more magic than I ever did," he said softly.

"She still has some sort of weakness… why is she so set against you anyways?"

He took a deep breath. "It was so long ago… before I built the Labyrinth, Jocelyn and I were both chosen to be interns in this group called the Rescuers. There was this really bad fire once, and her family was stuck in there. They wouldn't let her in because she was attached to them and could make some rash decisions concerning their safety. So they made me go in."

"All alone?" Sarah asked.

He nodded, "It was a sort of initiation into the group, and since she couldn't do it they pushed me in. The main point is that I saved everyone except her father, who had his leg caught under a part of the ceiling that had collapsed. I didn't know how much time I had, so I got the rest of the family out first and was about to return for him when the entire building burned down to the ground… He didn't survive. Jocelyn fully blamed me for his death."

"That was absolutely… _not_ your fault," she replied, surprising Jareth. "Seriously, just you alone couldn't have been able to save him. You did the right thing and got everyone else out, because you could save them."

"I _could've_ saved her father, too, though. I could have given the rest of the family directions on the way to get out and done what I could for Jocelyn's father."

All this guilt hidden beneath such an arrogant exterior made Sarah wonder, what else did Jareth hide within himself? "What happened after that?"

"Jocelyn was angry. Didn't care what explanations I gave, she hated me for letting her father die. She swore revenge, and I was advised to make myself a safe haven - the Labyrinth."

"How did you make the Labyrinth in such a way that gave you more magic than you had?"

"I got help from a chemist, and some builders to begin with the castle. Magic was infused into the castle, and it was with that magic that the Labyrinth grew around it."

"Wait… so what did Jocelyn mean when she said 'I guess you understood your Labyrinth after all'?"

"Understood how well it protected me is what she meant… But, now that the Labyrinth is not mine, danger is everywhere around me." Jareth looked at Sarah, at her encouraging face, and smiled, "Well, who needs protection? Let's get the Labyrinth back."

Sarah jumped around excitedly. Serboa screeched, "Watch it, don't unseat me off your shoulder!"

* * *

**Hey guys, lisa602 here. Sorry for taking so long with the update but it's hard to juggle with this new job I got. I know the chapter is short, but I promise you, there will be more chapters to come! Thanks for being so amazing and patient with me!**


	11. Ambrosias and the Shakana

"Danger lies ahead!"

"Where do you think you're going?"

"Go back while you still can!"

"This is not the way!"

"How did we even get here?" Sarah asked in perplexity, staring at the stone faces around her - the false alarms. "This is a more dramatic change than the path from the forest into the grasslands. Now it's: one second you look like you're in the middle of nowhere, next second in the caves."

"At least we're going in the right direction," Jareth replied.

"Beware!" another one shouted.

"Will you all _shut up_?" Serboa screeched.

"You will be destroyed!"

Serboa growled.

"Well, is it just me or are there more of them?" Sarah asked, noticing the growing number of faces. "I don't remember there being so many."

"Things change under new rules. Perhaps Jocelyn is even more cautious about intruders coming in than she needs to be…." Jareth said.

"I second that.. I don't know what _she's_ afraid of, but… what was that?"

A familiar growl had echoed through the caves ominously and they all paused in their tracks. In waiting for another sound, there was nothing else, and they glanced at each other nervously. Serboa's ears twitched and his eyes widened. "A Shakana…"

"What's a Shakana?" Sarah whispered.

"A creature; part lion, part goblin - I only heard stories that they were these mischievous sort of hunters… smart enough to find a way to catch their most difficult prey."

Sarah's mind reeled - that creature that she and Jareth had found when they entered the Labyrinth had found where they were. "What… what does it eat?" she asked.

"Anything it can catch. Those creatures are built on speed."

"We can't do what we did before," Jareth said, looking down the cave tunnel as he spoke. "If it's as cunning as it's made out to be, it'll know our possible escape plan…"

"Okay, we'll figure that out but… why hasn't it showed up yet?"

Just then, something roared, and into view came Ambrosias running at top speed. Skirting around the corner behind him came the Shakana, huffing and puffing loudly as though it had been running for a long while.

"Ambrosias!" Sarah shouted.

The dog gave a bark as he ran past them, Sarah and Jareth immediately following behind him. Serboa was whistling an upbeat tune as they ran, seemingly unaffected by the trouble they were in.

It irritated Jareth to no end. "Will you _stop_ that whistling?"

"Why? We're not in any real danger!"

"_What do you mean by that_?!" Jareth and Sarah shouted.

Jareth tripped over a branch lying on the ground, landing with a resounding "Oof!" He turned over on his back in time for the Shakana to pounce right on top of him. He flinched, turning his face to the side automatically.

"Jareth!" Sarah found herself scream.

There was a strange pause after that. Then the Shakana gave a happy pant, with its tongue sticking out, and proceeded to lick Jareth's face like a playful puppy.

Sarah's shoulders, hunched up in fear, had slackened by this shocking ordeal.

Jareth was trying to move his face out of the way of the Shakana's tongue, but it continued to persist in showing its affection. "Blech! Agh, stop it!" he was shouting.

Ambrosias poked his head through Sarah's legs and watched the Shakana trepidly.

Meanwhile, Serboa was laughing so hard he almost fell off of Sarah's shoulders once or twice. His head was thrown back and he held his hands to his stomach, likely getting some stitches in his side.

Sarah wasn't sure how to feel about this. Jareth was still alive and the Shakana was harmless when they thought it wasn't. "Serboa, that was so mean!" she said.

"What, I can't have some fun every once in a while?"

"I - I just -" she wasn't sure how to respond.

Jareth was finally able to stand up after a few minutes of the Shakana's playfulness and wiped his face with his sleeve. The Shakana bounced around happily and then went over to Sarah, its tongue sticking out as it looked down at her. Somehow, it looked cuter when it didn't seem like it was hunting them.

Sarah sighed and reached up to pet the Shakana. It gave a cat-like purr as she scratched and rubbed its head. "Things are not always what they seem," she said softly to herself.

"What's the idea?" Jareth asked Serboa.

"Well, you're still alive, aren't you?" Serboa asked pointedly. "I meant no harm, the Shakana means no harm -"

"I've heard stories of the Shakana, too, and what you told Sarah is everything I'd ever heard except for -"

"The stories are all true, but you're forgetting the one important part. They eat anything they can catch that they know have evil hearts. While that food is in low stocks, they also eat fruits and grass. They're really rather friendly creatures, and helpful to have on your side. Youre quite lucky that Jocelyn accidentally let this one in."

"How do you accidentally let something in?" Sarah asked, turning around to see that Ambrosias still shook with fear. She bent down next to him and pet him comfortingly. If only she'd remembered to ask Jareth to let her bring Merlin.

"When someone first takes over the throne, there is a short period of time in which the gates are left unguarded and opened. Anything could have come in."

"Could you promise not to do a prank like that on us again?" she asked.

"I can't make any promises."

"Serboa -" Jareth started warningly.

"Perhaps if you two become king and queen of the Labyrinth, I'll heed your wishes. At the moment, however, neither of you can boss me around."

"I'm not bossing," Sarah said, "I'm asking."

"Again, I won't promise nothing until you are queen."

She looked up at Jareth, who gave her a small smile instead of growling at Serboa as he obviously wanted to do. The smile made her smile and she looked over at the Shakana. "So… are you a boy or a girl?"

Serboa answered, "That's a female. A male would be the size of Ambrosias."

Sarah giggled and looked her over, "Well, we should give her a name."

The Shakana gave a playful growl.

"Sheila?" Serboa asked.

The Shakana shook its head vigorously.

"So you already have a name. Okay, let's me see… Darcy? - Leslie? - Rose? - Spring? - Autumn?..." The Shakana nodded at the last name. "No kidding? I was just throwing it out there. Is that really your name?... Oh, you just really _like_ it. Great!"

Jareth and Serboa were now laughing.

"What?" Sarah asked, perplexed.

"You're really taken with her!" Jareth said.

Serboa asked "Is it because she's a girl?"

Sarah snorted, but thinking on it she said, "Maybe."

* * *

**Hello, everyone! Thank you to my readers, followers, and reviewers for supporting me! I'm so glad you're enjoying my story! Considering I didn't even think I'd make it this far when I started out, I wonder what you all want to see in the chapters to come. Inbox me or write a review saying what you'd like to see happen next and I will try to insert it into the story. This story belongs to all of you!**

**With love, lisa602**


	12. Two Paths

"Ugh, Ambrosias stop shaking so much!" Serboa shouted.

After the fiasco, Sarah and Jareth both decided that Serboa should just ride Ambrosias. The change allowed Sarah to stretch her arms out. In any case, considering how good Sir Didymus was for Ambrosias, they both thought that Serboa would give him the same needed discipline.

"I have another wish to make considering our deal," Sarah said nonchalantly.

Jareth instantly became suspicious, "What?"

"Well, once we defeat Jocelyn and get your throne back… I want my dog Merlin here."

He looked thoughtful, "He's very important to you?"

"I've had him a long time… and my stepmother hardly tolerates him, so I worry about how he might be doing right now. Anyways, you were obviously spying on me for the past three years, so you should have noticed how good he is at calming Ambrosias down."

"... I suppose I could allow it."

Sarah snorted, "And I suppose you thought I was going to ask for something else, huh?"

He didn't answer, leaving them in silence for a few minutes as they walked through the empty caves. There were no more false alarms as far as they could see, and Autumn bounced around the group energetically.

Sarah broke the silence, "Jocelyn let it slip that the power you still have is with your crystals."

Jareth nodded.

"Could we see how my friends are doing? And your goblin subjects?"

A crystal appeared in his hand like a bubble, and he rolled it around in his hands in a sort of automatic movement considering he wasn't even looking at it. Once he held it up in the palm of his hands.

Everyone was cramped in a dark room, tied up, only their faces showing clearly from a light above them.

"Looks like they're in the oubliette just underneath the castle," Jareth remarked.

"Oubliette… is that like the cave I dropped into last time?" Sarah asked.

"Exactly."

She groaned, thinking about how Hoggle had also gotten her out of the oubliette. He'd picked up a board and placed it against the wall, somehow turning it into a door. But it hadn't been a prison. "And there's no possible way to get out?"

"There wasn't when I was king. Jocelyn likely didn't change it."

"I guess not…."

They stopped when they came at a fork in the caves. Gates stood in the middle of both paths, but they had no locks or indication that they could even be opened. Both had metal faces at Jareth's height that looked like they were sleeping.

"Hello?" Sarah asked aloud.

Both the faces jerked awake and began shouting, "No need to be so loud! We're awake! We're awake!"

Autumn and Ambrosias groaned while everyone else plugged their ears.

"_I_ didn't shout," Sarah mumbled, massaging her forehead.

The heads somehow shook and then looked at each of them in turn. From Jareth and Sarah to Autumn, and from Autumn to Serboa and Ambrosias.

"What a _strange_ group you are," the one on the left said.

"But whatever," the one on the right said with a sigh. "What do you want?"

"To get through?"

"Through where?" they asked pompously.

"I don't know. Which of you lead to the castle?" Sarah asked.

"Ha! You think it's that easy?" the right asked.

The left laughed, "She thinks it's that easy! I could cry from laughter at her stupidity!"

Sarah smiled and asked, "Is this going to be the riddle that one of you lies and the other tells the truth?"

"Ohh, smart girl - yes!" the one on the left said.

Jareth groaned. Autumn nudged his back with her head, comfortingly purring.

Sarah was unperturbed. "So, one of you will lead us through safe and sound while the other leads to certain death…." She walked right up to the gate on the right and pointed to the gate on the left, "Which would _he_ say was the way leading on to the castle?"

"My way!"

"So that means that _your_ path leads to death while his goes to the castle."

"How do you get that?" the right gate asked irritably, causing the left gate to chuckle.

"Because no matter who I ask, both of you would point to the path of death."

"You seem to have had to answer this riddle before," the left one replied as she approached it.

"There were two gates three years ago that gave me that same riddle. I asked the question differently, but the same rules applied to the answer." She turned to Jareth, "I got it right then. I thought after falling into the trap dropping me into the oubliette that I'd chosen wrong, but after a while I remembered them saying that the wrong path led to death while the path I chose didn't. I just fell into a trap, which hindered my journey for a while but still helped me find my way, even though you'd sent Hoggle to bring me back to the beginning… are those gates still in the maze, or are there just a bunch of them all over the place?"

"There shouldn't be a bunch of them… at least there weren't when I was on the throne. Either Jocelyn removed the gates you went through to replace them with these, or she kept them and added many more of them just to test if we really understood the riddle or just guessed." Jareth gave a slight shrug.

"I doubt she does, since you apparently didn't either," Sarah said, giggling when Jareth rolled his eyes. She turned to the left gate, "Open, please."

As it opened, it marvelled, "Oh, I say, a lady with manners! You are a wonderful person!"

"The good thing about that compliment is that you always tell the truth," Sarah said happily. "Thank you. You are wonderful, yourself."

"I must say, Jareth, you chose a _very_ bright girl!" Serboa said as they walked down the path, which morphed around them into a long tunnel. "I've never understood riddles. Too much thinking! Too confusing, too!"

"_You're_ very smart," Sarah said. "You know all about certain creatures _and_ you know a whole bunch of different languages. That is an amazing ability."

"It took tim to learn how to do it, though…" he mumbled in embarrassment.

Jareth strode forward to walk in step next to Sarah, and said, "Two paths can lead to two very different outcomes."

She glanced at him, "You're talking about three years ago, aren't you?"

"Just think about all of this in perspective of if you had taken my offer. Where would we be now?"

"I think… that we wouldn't be very happy about it. I was young - only fifteen - and you, well, seemed to have this idea that you could _own_ me." She stopped walking so she could look into his mismatched, but beautiful, eyes. "You know now, after my refusal, that you can't just tempt me with everything I may have ever wanted when my _family_ and my _freedom_ are at stake.

"I've grown up now - become wiser than I was. If I had taken your offer, I would not be going through these adventures with you right now. I'd be stuck in that castle - bored and, most likely, simmering after a meaningless fight with you - wishing that I hadn't given in."

Jareth smiled, "I understand perfectly… I like being in this moment with you now better than if we were up in the castle in misery. I -"

"Move along, you can be sentimental to each other another time!" Serboa said, brushing past them on Ambrosias.

Autumn popped into the space between them, panting excitedly, and licked both of them in the face.


	13. Luck

Ambrosias sat down suddenly, dramatically unseating Serboa from the saddle. Instead of shouting like Sarah had expected him to, considering his hurt leg, he said, "I understand completely, Ambrosias, really."

"What's the matter?" she asked.

"It's almost dark out, we're all exhausted, and we need some _rest_," he replied.

"No, we have to keep going," she said. "Ambrosias, please get up."

Ambrosias whined and didn't move, only looked at her with sad eyes over his shoulder.

Jareth put a hand on her shoulder, "Stopping every once in a while won't hinder us -"

"Do you really think Jocelyn will think about her prisoners? Will _they_ get food, sleep and water to keep them alive, or will she let them rot? I can't -"

"This is the first time you're talking nonsense," he interrupted. "Even if we get there after days of nonstop travelling, we're not going to have the energy to go up against her! Sarah, listen to me-" she'd turned her head away in frustration and Jareth now took hold of her chin, turning her head to face him. "We aren't immortal. We'll do what we can to save them, but we can't do that by depriving ourselves of our basic necessities."

"I went thirteen hours in this Labyrinth with only one bite of a peach that -"

"Exactly, so it didn't take a few days… although technically I shortened it so it was eleven hours -"

"That was still unfair -"

"I still wonder what your basis for comparison was."

Sarah couldn't help but laugh, turning away from Jareth as he smirked knowingly. Then she sighed, "How are we going to find a place to stay, anyways? We're kind of stuck in this tunnel, and I doubt we'd want to stay here -" Serboa's ears suddenly perked forward and backward, his eyes wide again. "What's wrong?" she asked, knowing it probably wasn't going to be good news. It wasn't.

He scrambled onto Ambrosias' back screeching, "The _cleaners_!"

Sarah and Jareth looked back over their shoulder from the direction they'd come, hearing the sound of _clunk_ing and wheels rolling. The metal machine, attracting spiderwebs, hurtled right towards them. They began running. Sarah started to wonder if running was going to be a thing with this excavation through the Labyrinth. Then, running seemed to happen in a lot of action films she'd watched.

She looked around in hope of seeing a loose wall that they could push in like with her last adventure, and worried as they just continued having to run - especially after just admitting that they were tired.

It was when light seemed to show up before them, that they got a burst of energy and rushed forward through the opening in the tunnel, tumbling to the side as the machine rattled forward. The strange thing about it this time was that it wasn't controlled by goblins - or even trolls - just moved of its own accord away, away, gone.

"Jocelyn's magic… ugh…." Jareth muttered as he caught his breath.

"Does that mean she just helped us?" Serboa asked.

"Or she just wants us to challenge her all the sooner," Jareth replied. "She's not quite known for having patience."

"Neither are _you_," Sarah said. He waved a hand that told her he wanted her to shut up, but she just giggled and looked at their surroundings in awe. It was a wide expanse of lush, green grass with flowers scattered all around. Though it was dark, Sarah could still see the beauty and smell the soft fragrance of the many different flowers. "Look… we're in a meadow and -"

"Trespassers!" something shouted.

They all looked around in bewilderment for the source of the shout. It was when Serboa said, "Oh, Bjorg, it's just you," that Sarah and Jareth looked down at the little dwarf who pointed his spear at each of them in turn, pausing upon noticing Serboa, and then Jareth.

"_Jareth_," he gave a quick and sudden bow. "Jocelyn's taken over your Labyrinth!" he shouted. He was shorter than Hoggle, with large eyes and the wrinkles of a middle-aged man… and so _loyal_ to Jareth. "She thought she could just come in and take me away, but I said 'No _missee_!' and used my protective magic to keep her away. Somehow, she's still able to push in those _blasted_ _cleaners_, destroying my flower gardens!"

Jareth smiled, "Nice to see you too, Bjorg. At least your magic is still working… we need somewhere to stay for a while."

Bjorg became excited, "Stay with me! I have plenty of rooms - as well as extra changes of clothes for you and the lady…. Neither of you look so good."

Jareth and Sarah looked down at their clothes, surprised to see how mangled they'd gotten. They weren't injured in any way, at least, but any more tumbles and they could have been scraped and scratched.

Bjorg looked at Serboa, "Hm… I've got a solution that will fix that leg right up!" He turned to everyone and started walking in a certain direction, beckoning them all to follow them. "Come, my home is just over here."

It was bigger than the houses in the Goblin City, a size that made sense as a mansion for a creature as small as Bjorg but somehow with doors wide enough for each of them to fit in. Even Autumn was able to walk in through the front door, though it was a bit of a squeeze, and roam around the wide expanse of space within. Small on the outside, and yet big on the inside.

Bjorg opened the door to a room the size of an actual ballroom, and they all watched in amusement as Autumn bounced in and excitedly ran all over the place. She would really enjoy the meadow in the morning, Sarah had no doubt about it.

"There is a room just upstairs for you," Bjorg told Sarah. "Second floor, you turn right, and it's just down the hall. Would you like a bath to be drawn for you?"

"Oh… sure, that be lovely, thank you," she replied, still feeling shocked at their luck in finding Bjorg.

"I'll get one of my goblin servants to do it - don't look so shocked, Jareth left me quite well off in this mansion!" he said, bustling off to do as he'd promised.

"He must be a very important dwarf if you've been this nice to him," Sarah said to Jareth as a goblin came shooting past them to rush up the staircase.

"I'll explain later," Jareth replied. "You should get going."

Bjorg came back into the room, "Yes, baths don't stay warm for very long! Besides, while I clean up Serboa's wound, I have something I need to have a quick talk with Jareth about. Hurry along!"

"Well, it also takes a while for baths to be drawn -" Sarah started to say.

"Not here it doesn't. And you don't have to worry about anything, stay here as long as you like! Nothing can get any of you as long as you're here!... Also, as soon as you take your bath, it'll be wise to go straight to sleep. You look exhausted!"

Sarah sighed and turned to go up the staircase, "All right."

"Sarah," Jareth said, causing her to turn and look at him. "Good night. I'll see you in the morning."

"Good night," she replied, turning again to make her way up the stairs.

Following the directions Bjorg gave her, she opened the door to find a very sophisticated looking room. A canopy bed with red sheets and blankets stood off to one side, the carpeted floor she walked on was plush and soft (she found after taking off her shoes and socks), and the bath _had_ been drawn - a screen stood in front, covering it. The goblin who drew it for her stood off to the side of the screen and bowed to her.

"Pajamas are on the bed, and a towel is right next to the bath tub. If you'll step behind this screen and throw your clothes off to the side, I'll take them, madam."

"Thanks," she said, feeling awkward as she stepped behind the screen and took off her shirt, throwing it over the screen. Searching through her jeans pockets, she took out the ring Jareth had given her and put it on top of her towel which had been placed on a side table. She threw the rest of her clothes over the screen and lowered herself into the bath, marvelling at the comforting warmth of the water.

"Will that be all, madam?" the goblin asked from the other side of the screen.

"Yes, thank you."

She looked at the side table and picked up the ring to look at it closely. Leaning back in the tub, she wondered what it would truly mean to put the ring on. Jareth hadn't said anything about it since he first noticed that she hadn't put it on, though she suddenly felt as though he had been trying hard to restrain himself from asking her to put it on. As if it would do something more than bind her to him for the rest of her life.

She was about to put it over on ring finger just then… but paused and shook her head. Uncertain with herself as to what held her back, she put the ring back on top of the towel and began to clean herself up with the soaps also placed on the side table.


	14. Paradise

Sarah opened her eyes to sunlight flooding in through the open curtains of the windows surrounding the room. She thought she remembered them being closed the night before - but, then, the goblins would have been up early to open them up.

Sighing, she sat up and threw the blankets off to walk over to the windows. The pajamas she wore were soft, blue fuzzy pants with a cotton white tank top. She felt like a guest of royalty with everything she'd been given. It was almost like the Labyrinth was far away, and that she wasn't right in the middle of it.

After a bit of squinting, she smiled in awe at how much more beautiful the fields were in the daylight. Light shone across the meadows and the flowers

"Madam," she turned to see a goblin holding a sundress. "Your change of clothes."

Sarah took it and looked it over. It was white with patterns of roses twisted throughout. No pockets. "Thank you, but do you also have a pair of jean shorts I can put on underneath this?"

The goblin nodded, bowed, and scurried from the room, returning about a minute later with white jean shorts. Upon handing those to her, the goblin bowed once more and left her so she could get dressed.

She did so quickly, putting the ring in a pocket of the shorts and opening up the bedroom door to see Autumn sitting obediently outside.

"What are you doing here?" she asked with a laugh, scratching her chin.

Autumn purred contentedly.

"Hey, do you want to go outside?"

She bounced around excitedly.

"Race you!"

The two of them ran down the staircase and, after a bit of fumbling with the handle on the front door, ran out into the sunlight. The soft, wet grass underneath her feet reminded her that she was barefoot, but she enjoyed the cool feeling as she and Autumn raced around the meadow. Flowers let off a strong, beautiful fragrance that filled Sarah's senses.

Autumn let out a playful growl as Sarah spun around with a smile on her face, then jumped right on top of her. Sarah laughed as they went tumbling to the ground.

After a bit of squirming to get away from Autumn's tongue, she heard, "Autumn - fetch!"

Autumn pounced right off of her and ran after something while Sarah propped herself up on her elbows to see Jareth standing there in a white cotton shirt and black pants. He held out his hand to help her up, and she took it.

"What did you throw?" she asked as she looked in the direction that Autumn ran to see the Shakana playing around with something in her mouth.

"A rock. I thought about using a stick, but I couldn't find one."

Sarah laughed. "It _is_ a meadow. I suppose Bjorg is usually very careful about rocks and sticks on his land?"

He nodded, a smile on his face as he asked, "Would you walk with me?"

"I can't think of anything I'd enjoy more," she replied, entwining her arm with his and starting a slow, leisurely walk. "So…" she started out, "What's so different about Bjorg that you left him this mansion?"

"He's always been there for me.. since childhood, really."

"Like a nanny?"

He snorted, "Yes, I suppose you could call him that. In any case, he was like a guardian to me after my parents died when I was just a kid - an illness. He took me in without a second thought, and I've been grateful to him ever since."

"And he was also there for the incident with Jocelyn's father?"

"He's the one who suggested that I make this Labyrinth. I made sure that I had a spot just for him in it - and I'm actually quite glad I made it so that he couldn't be pushed out without his permission."

"Otherwise Jocelyn would have gotten it," Sarah finished with a nod. "What did he want to talk to you about last night?"

"My plan for getting the Labyrinth back."

"And that is?"

He chuckled, "You and I will figure that out in due time. Bjorg understands that we need some time to rest and think it over before we act."

"Right, so we need to figure out what Jocelyn's weakest -"

"How about we just enjoy ourselves today?"

"Oh…" Sarah hesitated. She still didn't want to wait for too long before setting off. The safety of her friends was extremely important to her and there was still no knowing just what Jocelyn was subjecting them to. But, then, she also knew that some time off could help them regain their strength. "All right. Why not?"

He smiled at her sweetly, causing her heart to flutter against her chest.

She cleared her throat and asked, "How's Serboa doing?"

"His leg is healing quickly thanks to Bjorg. He'll be ready for travel in no time."

Sarah smiled, "That's great! I know how much pain he's had to suffer from that leg, so it should be exciting for him to be able to walk again. Also, I think Sir Didymus would like to have Ambrosias as his ride again once we rescue everyone."

"You really care for your friends," he said softly, surprising her with how longing his voice sounded.

"Well… yeah. They helped me a lot in my quest through this Labyrinth. A lot of bonding can happen when you have an adventure with someone - when they're always there for you no matter what. I mean, it was hard for Hoggle at first but -"

"What about me? I was there for you every step of the way last time, as well."

They stopped walking to face each other.

Sarah thought about how best to reply, hoping against all odds that she wouldn't say something wrong. "The thing about _that_ was… it… in my mind at the time, and throughout my life since then, you had been the antagonist. Not an _evil_ fae, per say, but I fought my way through the Labyrinth to get my baby brother back and you tried at all costs to stop me. That peach was one out of many hindrances."

A thoughtful look crossed his features.

"Temptation had always been hard for me to fight, and you _knew_ that, except my brother was the perfect incentive to keep me from giving in… it sounds bad, calling you the antagonist, but that's what I thought and felt back then. Now.. I see a completely different side of you."

He looked up at her with an expectant look on his face.

"And I like it," she finished.

Taking her hands in his, he looked into her eyes - his own sparkling - as he smiled down at her. "This is the part of me I'd always wanted you to see, but I was trying to keep to the rules that I had set when I had the Labyrinth built. I'd always watched you from a distance before, wishing beyond hope that you'd call for me and.. and fall in love with me."

She looked down at their hands, "Then I hurt you by turning down your offer."

"These three years had given me the time to think and plot, but… it helps to hear from _you_ just what your thoughts had been at the time. If I could have done it all differently, I would."

"No… where would this moment, right here and now, be if you hadn't done everything the way you did? There's no guarantee that my response would have been any different, or that we'd be able to understand each other much better than we thought we would."

"Sarah…." His hand let go of hers and he took hold of her chin, forcing her head up to look at him. "While nothing can be done differently, I still want you to be mine."

She smiled, "Silly Goblin King. Because of our deal, I already _am_ yours."

His chuckle was deep, the corner of his eyes crinkling with the smile on his face as his face slowly moved closer to hers. Her heart pounded madly as she noticed, due to his close proximity, that he smelled of flowers and fruits. Honeysuckle was the strongest.

"Jareth.." she mumbled softly, just before his lips touched hers. It was soft, gentle, and Sarah found herself instantly kissing him back. Her arms wrapped around his neck while his hands moved to her lower back, pressing her closer to him.

"I know we're in a sort of paradise now, but _really_?" a voice asked, surprising the two of them into jumping away from each other. Serboa tsked, "If you _must_ do that, get a room! Don't do it in the middle of a bright field where we can _all_ see you!"

Jareth looked everlastingly annoyed by the interruption, but said, "I have been meaning to have a talk with you, Serboa. Let's go inside."

"Okay!" Serboa replied, unperturbed. His hurt leg was bandaged, but he pounced away as happily as though he had no injury.

"I'll be back," he now said to Sarah, giving her one last peck on the lips before walking away after Serboa.

Sarah found that her lips seemed to tingle after that and, putting her hand to her mouth, found an uncontrollable smile appear on her face.


	15. Abandonment

"What do you mean he left?!" Sarah asked Bjorg angrily. The dwarf flinched in surprise at her reaction after telling her that Jareth had gone from his mansion.

She'd awoken that morning relaxed and with a smile on her face, only to go downstairs and hear from Bjorg that Jareth had left. Bjorg was holding a note out for her to take, but she didn't want to read it. If anything, Jareth should have talked to her about it.

"Forget that, I'm going after him," she said, storming away.

"No, you're not," Bjorg said gently as she tried opening the front door. Locked. "He left me in charge of taking care of you -"

Sarah began hitting and kicking the door in desperation, "_**No**_!"

Bjorg let out a soft sigh.

She rounded on him, "We're supposed to be partners! We didn't go through the Labyrinth this far for him to just drop me like this!"

"He wants to protect you -"

"Protection!" she scoffed. "That's a load of -"

"He left with Serboa and Ambrosias early this morning. You'd have a hard time catching up, especially since - you know - this is the _Labyrinth_."

"According to what you've said, though, I've still got Autumn -"

"Don't even try, my dear. There's not much she can do for you."

Sarah doubted that, but she decided to keep trying. It was not fair of Jareth! "You can't honestly agree with what he's doing! Jocelyn could hurt him, or worse -"

"And you feel that would be impossible with you there?"

She had no answer to that, giving only a screech of frustration as she kicked the front door again. Leaning against it, she slowly dropped down to the floor, feeling her heart sink… rock bottom. Asking for the key would do no good, and neither would fighting with Bjorg - he was just being loyal to Jareth.

"I will leave you alone for now," Bjorg said, putting the note on the table and slowly walking out of the room.

Sarah pulled her knees close and leaned her head against them, her thoughts spinning around through possible escape plans. Climb out her bedroom window? No, Bjorg probably thought about that. Find the key to the front door? He would have hid that really well. She didn't really want to break through a window and cause Bjorg the trouble of fixing it. She also wasn't sure, should he need to go outside for some reason, that she could slip through the door and outrun either him or his servants.

Something nudged her out of her thoughts, and she looked up to see Autumn. The Shakana had a worried look on her face. Sarah crossed her legs, glad she kept the shorts from the day before for the short blue dress she was wearing, and brought her hand up to scratch her chin, forcing a smile to her face.

"I'm okay. Just been abandoned, really."

Autumn let out a whine and lay down, closing her eyes as she placed her head in Sarah's lap. She dropped her rock along the way, reminding Sarah of when Jareth had thrown it to divert Autumn's attention just the day before.

She picked it up, sighing as she turned it over in her hands. Then her eyes widened. "This was the rock Jareth threw to you yesterday, right?" she asked aloud.

Autumn gave a short nod.

There were words etched into the rock: _It's a trap!_

"Did - did Jareth give any indication that he knew what was on this?"

Autumn looked up in confusion, looking at the words on the rock, and shook her head.

"It's a trap… only Ludo can call the rocks, so… Hoggle or Sir Didymus must have written this and Ludo sent it…. It - we've got to get out of here, Autumn."

Autumn sat up.

Jumping to her feet, Sarah went to the table to pick up the note and look at it: **I know when you read this that you'll be very angry with me, but I think this was the best for you. Don't defy me!**

Sarah snorted at the last sentence, but then looked back at the rock. He was probably walking into a trap at that very moment while she was under mansion arrest.

"Bjorg!"

The dwarf walked in, looking acquiescent to face her.

Holding the rock close, she showed the side with the message and waited as he read it. "Well?" she asked.

"What?"

"It's a note from my friends. Jareth is walking into a trap and -"

"No one can send a note on a rock -"

"That's where you're wrong. My friend, Ludo, has control over rocks. If Jareth were here, he'd be able to testify to that since Ludo used the rocks to help me get into his castle. This is a note they sent to warn us that Jocelyn has set a trap."

Bjorg shook his head. "Sarah, I understand you want to be with Jareth, but this is not going to help you -"

"I'm not an idiot, I'm being serious here!" she burst. "This is the Labyrinth, and you know anything is possible. Ludo can use the rocks to send messages and win wars. He and my friends sent this to -"

"Jareth did tell me you would say _anything_ to get out, I didn't think you'd go this far though!"

Sarah almost threw the rock in her frustration. "Listen -"

Bjorg turned to leave again, saying as he went, "Lunch is in an hour."

She gaped after him. He was a good dwarf and all, but he was being really vexing. Uncertain what to do now, she turned to Autumn who looked quite put out as well. "I'm all out of ideas," Sarah told her, "what about you?"

Her ears perked forward as though she had an idea, and her tongue stuck out as she pounced away into the ballroom.

She slowly followed the overexcited Shakana, wondering if she actually had an idea or she just wanted to run around. Just in case, she looked around the ballroom to be sure no goblin servants were in there before closing the door behind her.

Autumn pawed at one of the two stone gargoyles by the fireplace, as if she was trying to move it.

Sarah came up next to her and looked closely at the gargoyle. It's hand was held out as though waiting for someone to shake it, where the other gargoyle was like most others she'd seen where it sat like a dog with it's hands on the ground.

"What are you waiting for?" the gargoyle asked, causing her to jump in surprise. It tilted its head at her, waiting patiently for a response.

"Do I just shake your hand to get you to open an escape route?"

"Exactly!"

She eyed its hand suspiciously, "How do I know you're not just going to stick me in some sort of dungeon?"

The gargoyle rolled its eyes. "If you're so desperate to get out of the mansion, what other choice do you have?"

"Jumping out the window," she said.

"Then you'd be dead. Anything else?"

"No."

"Just shake my hand then. You got nothing to lose."

"You have part of a point," she said, taking hold of it's hand. "But actually, I've got everything to lose."


	16. Escape to Hell

"Sarah, please," she heard Bjorg say behind her.

The fireplace had opened to reveal a steep path leading deep under the ground. All she could see was a deep, dark pit. She tried to ignore Bjorg, wondering why he didn't just try to grab her, but heard the pleading in his voice.

"Jareth has good reason to keep you here! You can't help him to defeat Jocelyn!"

"Yes, I can!" Sarah shouted stubbornly, not turning to face the dwarf.

"Sarah, have some sense and listen to me! There is nothing you can do, just stay here… I _can't_ let you leave!"

One glance at Autumn and she turned to look at Bjorg. "Watch me," she said, and then quickly - without even thinking about it - hopped on Autumn's back. Grabbing hold around her neck, the Shakana bounded away.

The gargoyle cackled behind them, "You'll never catch them now!"

"Shut up you piece of -"

"Don't you have something to do besides _insulting_ me?"

Sarah was soon out of earshot of the dwarf and the gargoyle, and only then she realized that she was actually _riding_ Autumn. The Shakana seemed to have no problem with this fact, either, as she continued to run at a fast, but smooth, pace.

The tunnel seemed to go on and on, and Sarah could only hope that Autumn would be able to find them… and that they weren't too late.

"Do - Do you know where you're going?" she asked. No response. Not a nod or shake of the head. "Autumn?" Sarah leaned forward to look into the Shakana's face to see a completely unrecognizable look. She seemed mad with rage… her usually sweet, happy-go-lucky brown eyes were clouded over red… that did not bode well.

She suddenly skidded to a stop, throwing Sarah straight over her head. Landing on the hard ground, she groaned and started to push herself up. Her body ached all over now. "Autumn, what the -?"

Autumn walked around her and stood in a defensive position facing away from her, growling menacingly.

Peeking tentatively around the Shakana, she nearly groaned again to see Jocelyn standing there with a smirk on her face… Autumn could sense Jocelyn's evil heart _and_ was protecting Sarah from her.

Jocelyn gave a cold laugh. "A Shakana? I see Jareth left some good protection for you in case you did run away… which you have… however…." She gave a knowing smile. "It is not enough."

Autumn let out a roar and pounced. Before Sarah could even register what was happening, Autumn had been thrown back behind her. Looking over her shoulder, Sarah wasn't sure whether she was breathing or not. Knocked out or dead. She turned back to look at Jocelyn, "_What_ did you _do_?"

"Self defence. The Shakana will come around again, no worries about that. But it stays here. You, however, are coming with me."

"Don't come any closer!" Sarah said as Jocelyn began to walk forward.

Jocelyn laughed. "Or _what_? You'll try to beat me up? You'll call for Jareth?... I'm _so_ scared - _not_!"

Sarah flinched.

"You have _nothing_ against me," she continued, walking towards her again and kneeling down next to her. Sarah was too angry to move, just stared back with ultimate loathing.

"Jareth will get you."

She laughed again. "You _are_ quite something. Let me tell you this… he came to me for a fight, indeed he did, but did you really expect him to _win_?"

Sarah's heart plummeted. Where was this going?

"They weren't even halfway to the castle when I intercepted them. Why wait for a fight? Jareth fought _valiantly_, indeed he did, but he was no match for me… don't worry, he's not dead just yet. I just thought it would be quite the show if I killed you first, in front of him. Do a little ceremony for the occasion."

She ground her teeth together in frustration. This was not what she had planned.

Jocelyn chuckled. "See what happens when you try to save the day? You get caught and killed for your stupidity. And you wondered why Jareth tried to leave you at that _dwarf's_ house… it's the safest place, and he knew that I would want to make a show out of the both of you."

Sarah looked down at her feet. Jareth _did_ have a good reason for leaving her there… why couldn't she have just listened?... Actually, why couldn't he have _told_ her why he was leaving her there? He could have at least let her in on the plan… well… she wouldn't have listened then, either.

Looking back at Jocelyn, she was infuriated by the knowing smile on her face. "Don't act like you're all-knowing. You don't know me, and you most certainly don't know Jareth the way you think you do."

A frown. Sarah almost smiled knowing she hit a spot.

Jocelyn gave a tight smile, "And you think you know him better than I do?"

"I don't confess to know everything about him, but in all honesty it seems that you've known each other for quite a while. Even before getting the same internship. You act like he let your father die on purpose, but do you even let him explain what happened? No, you assume the _worst_. You are a pathetic excuse for -"

Sarah was cut off as a scepter appeared in Jocelyn's hand and she was knocked upside the head with it. Rendering her unconscious.


	17. Imprisonment

Sarah slowly opened her eyes a few blinks at a time to ultimate darkness. She hoped her eyes would adjust, but it looked like there was absolutely no light filtering in to where she was. Sitting up, she felt around her. Wide expanse of ground, no low ceilings or walls so close together.

She could only guess that she was in the middle of a large room, was likely dropped in there if her aching body was any indication. It hurt a lot more than when Autumn accidentally bucked her off… then again, she figured that it might just be the continuous after-effect from that incident.

Autumn…. Was she waking up now? Was she on her way to save them? There wasn't much she could do since Jocelyn knocked her out with no problem.

Sarah gave a light sigh. She was about to do something that she always wanted to slap characters in horror movies for… "Hello!? Anyone here?"

"_Sarah_!? Sarah!"

She flinched at the suddenness of the voices, but she would recognize them anywhere. Her eyes teared up and, when the pairs of shuffling feet walked up to her, a match was lit and transferred to candles. And there were her friends' faces in front of her.

"Hoggle!" she hugged the dwarf, her tears flowing freely now. "Ludo!" she stood and reached up to wrap her arms around the tall monster. "Sir Didymus!" she bent down again to hug the brave fox. Standing back, she wiped her eyes, "I'm so glad you're all okay!"

"Well, we're _alive_, I'm not so sure about _okay_," Hoggle said with a bit of an awkward shrug, holding out his arms to her to show the rope burns. "Jocelyn still thinks we're tied up. but she probably thinks you'll undo the ropes."

She giggled slightly and looked around with a bright smile to see the rest of the goblins huddling around her. She frowned when she realized who was missing.

"Did you - um - did you hear anything about Jocelyn's other prisoners?"

The faces of everyone around her was suddenly downcast as they all looked at each other instead of her.

She sat down roughly, her fears suddenly overcoming her. "Where -?"

"Well, some good news first," Hoggle said quickly.

At this, Sir Didymus gave a little smile and finished, "We hear that Ambrosias got away again before taking everyone else once again. My… cowardly yet brave little champion…."

"And - and what about Serboa and - and Jareth?"

"Jareth is being held elsewhere," Hoggle said, rubbing the back of his head nervously. "We hear he sports a few bruises, but otherwise he is in perfect health."

She smiled a bit at that.

"But Serboa wasn't so lucky," he continued.

Sarah's heart dropped.

Ludo chipped in, "Hurt… _baaaad_…."

"Wh-where is he?"

The faces of the goblins around her looked surprised as she asked this and a tear raced down her cheek. But she didn't notice. When they made an opening, she quickly stood and made her way through with her friends following behind her.

Upon reaching the crippled looking body at the end of the little goblin tunnel, Sarah knelt down next to Serboa and gently picked him up in her arms. He groaned a bit, but once he was comfortable he gave a little 'hmph!' His ears were left floppy, he was covered in dirt and bruises, and it seemed difficult for him to even open his eyes very much.

"What was _that_ for?" Sarah asked, trying to be humorous while sitting cross legged so she could lay him across her lap. Goblins leaned forward, staring more at her tears than anything else as though they were miracles.

"I… _told_ Jareth… that you would… try to follow us… anyways," Serboa said in between flinches. "But _he_… thought… you would be… reasonable."

"I think he may have forgotten how unreasonable I can be," she said with a little laugh.

"I blame it… on that kiss…"

A few more tears fell down her face, "But look at you, I - I'm glad I'm here, I could -"

"_Sarah_…" he said warningly. "You can't… help me…."

"You sound just like Bjorg - of course I can help, I just need to find out how."

"I know.."

"What?"

He looked at her with the utmost seriousness. "If… you find a way… out of here…. _Run_. Run and don't look back."

She shook her head, "No… I can't just -"

"Sarah she won't… kill or hurt Jareth… unless… she kills you first… you need to get… as far away… as possible…"

"But…"

"When Jareth fought Jocelyn… and was defeated… she used me as… as an example… to him about how… she'll _destroy_ _you_… in front of him… and I don't think… that she'd let you live… this long." Serboa took a few slow breaths, trying to regain some air. "Jareth was already worried… about how you were… faring at Bjorg's… don't make his efforts… to keep you safe be… left in vain." Serboa closed his eyes.

"Serboa!" Sarah freaked out.

He let out a snort and then flinched, "What?"

"If you weren't hurt so bad I'd hit you, I thought you were dead for a second there!"

Serboa let out light chuckles. "Well… I'm not dead _yet_!"

"You really care for a goblin like him?" the voice came from one of the goblins, but when she looked into the group she couldn't pick him out.

"I care for all of you. And Jareth does, too. We scoured our way through the Labyrinth to destroy Jocelyn and save all of you… things don't always go as planned, but I absolutely mean to get all of you out of here."

They all whispered amongst each other in shocked voices, and then suddenly stopped talking all at once.

"What about you?" another asked.

Sarah thought on that. Serboa was right… Bjorg and Jareth had been right… but she just couldn't run away. No, she wanted to fight. She wanted to be more useful than just being the damsel off to the side waiting while the heroes fought the villains. She just felt like, without her, the hero wouldn't be able to win this fight.

"I'm helping to take back what is rightfully Jareth's kingdom… what is rightfully _your_ home."


	18. The Attempt

Sarah turned to Hoggle, Ludo, and Sir Didymus. "You sent me a message through a rock, right? That this whole thing was Jocelyn's trap for us?"

They nodded, pointing out a little hole in the wall small enough for the rock to have fit through perfectly.

"Are there _any_ other rocks in here?"

Hoggle spoke. "After we sent _that_ out, the guards came in to scrounge out every one of the rocks so we couldn't do it again. They noticed it rolling through the hallways - couldn't catch or keep hold of it."

"Oh…" Sarah said in disappointment, starting to think of something else. Ludo was able to get rocks from far away, she recalled, but it was likely that he couldn't call so many as to knock the door down.

"But they didn't get the big rock," Sir Didymus added.

They all - including the goblins - pointed to the rock in the corner of the room. It was bigger even than Sarah.

She grinned. "Brilliant. Where do the guards usually come in?" She looked around, there were no openings but she knew nothing was ever as it seemed. She remembered Hoggle saving her from an oubliette by picking up a piece of wood, putting it against a wall, and opening an exit.

Again, they pointed, now to a wide expanse of space.

"Ludo… make exit?" Ludo asked eagerly.

"Not just yet," Sarah said, standing up to pace thoughtfully. "Okay… where is the armory in the castle?"

"Top floor," a goblin stated proudly.

She looked at the goblin who spoke, with his hand excitedly up in the air. "Can you lead the way up there?" she asked him.

He froze in shock. "Uh - uh sure, sure!"

"Good," she said with a nod. "You, Sir Didymus, Ludo, and… _six_ other goblins will make your way there. And remember to be discreet."

"What about me, Sarah?" Hoggle asked.

"You told me once that you could pick locks, right? I didn't imagine you saying that?"

He growled, "Sarah, you don't even remember the context that I said it in! You were having difficulty with your piano lessons, so I told you that I _know_ how to pick locks but have a lot of difficulty getting it done right and quick -"

"That's good enough for me. Some talent is better than nothing. Do you have a lock pick to use?"

"In my jewelry bag," he mumbled.

"Great. So you, me, Serboa, and six goblins will make our way to the dungeon where Jareth is held. Does anyone here know where that is?"

Two of the goblins nodded.

Sarah pointed to the two of them, "It's a done deal, you're in our group… now the rest of you need to decide where you'll go. I need five of you with Ludo and Sir Didymus - I'll learn all your names later, I promise - I need four more with me, and the rest of you need to keep watch in all the nooks and crannies you know about within the castle. Distract the guards, knock them out, capture them, do whatever you can think of to help us out.

"What you will be doing after you've got all the guards down is looking for a way out. There has to be secret passageways… else, we'll just all go into battle against Jocelyn and her little army of trolls and whatever else she's got."

"The only trolls she has are in front of this door _right now_ to guard us," Sir Didymus said. "Other than those trolls, she's got her _minions_!"

"What do they look like?" Sarah asked.

"We've never seen their faces," Hoggle noted. "But, they're wearing black uniforms with green capes and helmets with green… uh… green feather things!"

Letting out a light giggle, Sarah looked over to Ludo. "Ask the rock to move when you're ready."

A sharp nod of the head and Ludo threw his head back to howl loudly, something she hadn't heard in years. The sound was earsplitting now that they were in an enclosed, echoey space. And it was apparently something that could be heard outside of the oubliette, for the doors opened and the four trolls started to march in. The rock tumbled forward, smashing into every single one of them, and rolled away with each of them still attached to it. Squashed but groaning loudly.

"Let's move, then. Choose amongst yourselves who you'll be going with," Sarah said, watching as they all whispered hurriedly and then moved into their selected groups. "All right," she commanded, gently picking up Serboa, "Onward."

They all walked out, each group going their separate ways. Some scattering alone to their hiding places. Sarah's group hurried along, going up a few floors to the first floor basement and then continuing through there as quickly as possible.

_A four floor basement,_ Sarah realized to herself. _The oubliette being at the very bottom. The dungeon being the top-most floor of the basement. How many levels are above the basement?_

The two goblins who led the group stopped in front of a strangely damaged and withering wooden door. "Here," they said.

Sarah looked between them and the door. "Are you sure? This doesn't look like a very stable dungeon for someone with magic."

All seven goblins and Hoggle gave her a look.

She slumped her shoulders, "Not everything is as it seems," she said with a sigh. "I guess I'll be living here for the rest of my life, so I _should _remember that."

Hoggle stared at her. "For the rest… of your _life_?!"

Sarah shushed him. "I'll explain later, now do your magic."

"What magic? I don't -"

"Hoggle, it's a figure of speech!" she whispered with frustration, trying not to be loud as Hoggle had been in case someone passed by. "I'm telling you to use your lockpicking skills to open the door… then use those same skills to unlock whatever chains him up."

He seemed as though he were about to say something back, but then thought the better of it and slowly went to do as she said.

"Hurry up!" she said softly.

"Don't rush me!" Hoggle snapped. "I never rushed you with your piano lessons, so don't be doin' it with _me_!" With that last note, he pointed to himself and then set about doing his task.

Her mouth set into a thin line, but she knew he was right. She instead leaned against a nearby wall and looked down at Serboa in concern. "You awake?"

"Yes."

"It's just you haven't said anything in a while."

"I don't need you worrying about _me_, Sarah. It hurts to move, let alone talk and breathe; but even though I'm probably half dead, I'm still at least half alive."

"I suppose that's better than being mostly dead."

"You worry about yourself and Jareth…" Serboa's voice faded slightly.

"Don't you die on me, Serboa," Sarah said sternly. "If becoming queen when we defeat Jocelyn means anything, then I order you not to die. You are not dying tonight or anytime soon."

Serboa chuckled. "How effective is that if my body just decides to fail and collapse?"

"It won't. At least you've proven to me that it _is_ possible for us to defeat her. You didn't say anything negative about that." Sarah immediately looked to see how Hoggle was faring with the door, and was disappointed when she saw that he was still having difficulty with it. "Do you need help, Hoggle?"

"_No_!" he said stubbornly. "I've almost… got it… a_ha_!" The lock clicked and he swung the door open, revealing Jareth in the very middle of the room.

It wasn't something Sarah had been expecting. Where ropes or chains would be, Jareth was tied up… or locked in… by a glowing purple wire that was wrapped around his body and attached itself to the walls on all sides of him.

"Jareth!" Sarah said.

His head snapped up, "Sarah?! No, Sarah, leave now! _Go_! What are you _doing_ here?"

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm saving you," she said, walking into the room. "Now how do we get you out of this."

"_Sarah_," he growled, "leave now or -"

"You can't get him out of it," a calm, amused voice said from behind her. Sarah spun around to see Jocelyn leaning on the door frame. "It can only be broken by someone with strong magic. Something only I have, something that Jareth no longer has, and something that you will _never_ have." She walked in, pacing around Sarah and Jareth - Sarah still holding on to Serboa - and looked to Jareth. "_Mortals_," she said with obvious distaste. "You tell them one thing, and they try to do something entirely different -"

"No different from you!" Sarah cut in. But she was ignored.

"- It's always made me wonder, Jareth. For the past three years since I heard the story about you falling in love with a mere mortal… and _her turning you down_. I admit, it was quite a shocker in that one, no one has ever fallen in love with a stupid mortal before; and two, that any girl - mortal or not - would turn down the handsome Goblin King. What do _you_ make of it, Jareth?"

Sarah stood rooted to the spot. Noticing suddenly that the other goblins and Hoggle disappeared. Jocelyn couldn't have done that, could she? Oh, she couldn't worry about that right now!... She stared at Jareth, knowing she could do nothing but wait for his answer.

"I was surprised myself with all of that, but no longer. I'm sure you know why, Jocelyn the dimwit… or must I spell it out for you?"

She slapped him hard across the face. Sarah started to move toward her, but one flick of Jocelyn's wrist and she went soaring back first into a wall, her breath knocked right out of her. Once she got her breath back she tried to moved, but Jocelyn's magic continued to hold her tightly against the wall.

"Answer my question _politely_," Jocelyn growled at him.

With one small smile, he looked up. Surprisingly not looking at Jocelyn, but at Sarah. "Because, Jocelyn, my dear Sarah is no normal human being. Like many of them, she has her flaws, but who doesn't? _I _certainly don't admit to being perfect… sometimes." Sarah couldn't help the giggle she let out, even being constricted to a wall with an injured goblin in her arms. "But she has heart and power. She had the smarts, the strength and the bravery to make her way through my labyrinth and beat me. She had the compassion to make friends along her journey, to keep and care for them as though they were her own kind. Most of all… she has the ability to forgive the wrongs done to her, to make amends for something that can't be undone. And I love her for that."

Sarah stood still, having stopped moving somewhere in the middle of his paragraph. Amazing that he would choose now to tell her that. And say it as though he were actually telling it to Jocelyn.

Jocelyn scoffed. "I never thought I'd see the day that a _mortal_ would capture the heart of a fae. Nor that I'd ever see the arrogant Jareth with a soft side."

"Enjoy it while you can," he said, still looking at Sarah. "Because you know it does not, has not, and never will come out very often. I am what I am, though I swear my feelings will never change. And I _will_ live to see that day that she realizes she loves me, too. The day she knows how futile it is to try to escape my grasp. That I will be the only one to love her… forever… not very long, yet neverending."

Jocelyn rolled her eyes and stepped out of the dungeon room to yell, "Guards!"

Sarah continued to stare back at Jareth, whose mismatched eyes continued to captivate her attention. She knew he loved her, but… could she really love him? She was so young - only eighteen - and yet.. loving him felt right inside. It suddenly made sense through all those years of thinking that she didn't need him - those years of forcing herself to believe that.

"Don't get all mushy, Sarah," Jareth said humorously. "Just as it is not me to be that way all the time, it is not that way for you either… my Sarah…."

Footsteps came running, and the guards that Hoggle described stopped in front of Jocelyn. "Take them upstairs. Their ordeal will begin soon," she said, pointing to Sarah and Jareth. "Take the goblin and go searching for the rest of the prisoners. They need to be put back in their dungeon."

Sarah looked down at Serboa, hoping he would survive… that they would _all_ survive.


	19. This is War

"Let _go_ of me!" Sarah screeched at the guards who grabbed hold of her arms. Another one had grabbed Serboa out of her arms, and none too gently, to make his way downstairs alone. Six other guards undid the strange purple wire from the walls and dragged Jareth in between them. Jocelyn led the way up the stairs.

"Sarah, stop fighting -" Jareth started to say.

"_No_, there has to be _something_ -" she said while trying to whack her arms out of the guards' grasps.

He sighed, then flinched with an "Ouch!" as his knees banged up against the stairs. As he scrunched into a ball, he said, "If you really won't let me walk on my own, then at _least_ hold me up _higher_ you imbeciles."

Jocelyn chuckled, "Drop him lower."

Jareth's mouth set in a thin line as the guards dropped their arms. He had to scrunch himself up even further. "Cruel and unusual punishment," he muttered under his breath.

Sarah fumed. "No worse than putting people in the Bog of Eternal Stench. No worse than finding a way into someone's mind to change their decisions. No worse than leaving your new, life-long partner - that you just _happened_ to do that mind trick to - at a mansion to risk your own life without telling her -"

"Sarah, dear, I understand you're frustrated about this predicament we're in, but don't take it out on me."

"Stop sounding so calm!" she shouted at him. Looking to Jocelyn, she said, "You're making a big mistake! Let us go now or suffer the consequences!" Sarah wasn't even sure where her mouth was going with that threat, but her temper was rising beyond her control. Jareth's grunts of pain weren't helping.

"What consequences?" Jocelyn said with a laugh.

"Wouldn't you like to know the ultimate pain in life?" Sarah grumbled as she kicked the guards holding her in the shins. They immediately crumpled to the ground in pain, but she didn't get far before she was suddenly slammed back into the wall, Jocelyn's left hand on her chest and right hand holding a spear to her neck.

"Pretty soon," Jocelyn said threateningly, "it is _you_ who will know the ultimate pain… that of what that goblin feels now, but worse. And this, you will not survive, I can guarantee you that." She pulled Sarah away from the wall and then pushed her to the ground.

Sarah brought her hand where Jocelyn's spear had been, and when she looked at her fingers they were spotted with blood.

"This is what happens when you try to play the hero," Jocelyn said with a smirk.

Looking up where she was, Sarah found she was face to face with Jareth. "I have to do _something_, Jareth," she admitted softly. "Not being able to do anything is going to _kill_ me."

"I know patience is not my strong suit… but it should be yours," he whispered with a wink. "You can do something, but not just yet. You'll know when you can do something, and I hope it will be soon, I _trust_ you will… I love you. I always have and I always will. Remember that."

Her heart pounded madly looking into his mismatched eyes, up until she was suddenly yanked to her feet by the two guards she'd tried to incapacitate.

"Tie her hands behind her back in case she decides to try anything else," Jocelyn said, continuing ahead as the guards pulled out some rope and tied her hands roughly behind her.

"Ow!" she glared at them, then at Jocelyn. "What is this - a fun bit of pain before absolute suffering -?"

"_How you turned my world, you precious thing_

_You starve and near exhaust me_

_Everything I've done, I've done for you_

_I move the stars for no one_

_You've run so long_

_You've run so far_

_Your eyes can be so cruel_

_Just as I can be so cruel_

_Though I do believe in you_

_Yes I do_

_Live without the sunlight_

_Love without your heartbeat_

_I, I can't live within you_

_I can't live within you_

…_._

_I, I can't live within you."_

Sarah shook herself mentally and looked at Jareth, recalling the events of the Escher Room… before he professed his love to her. He obviously loved her very much… and she started to realize to herself that she'd fallen for him, too. She'd always figured being alone was the best way to go, but her friends had taught her different the first time through the Labyrinth. Jareth taught her this time around, except additionally in the path of a love bigger than friendship.

An adventure with Jareth the Goblin King had caused her to fall in love with him. Who'd have thought?... Well, he did.

They reached a large room filled with more soldiers, allowing them a surrounded path to a small stage. Perhaps so Jocelyn could do her special little thing to Sarah with an audience to watch… what had she done to Serboa besides likely whacking him half to death?

Halfway to the stage, the soldiers holding Jareth stopped there to sit him down on his now banged-up knees. Sarah tried to stop, but she was dragged the rest of the way and then thrown on it. She'd always wanted to be center stage… but as an actress, not as the victim of a death that would make her wish it could happen faster. She stood up, wondering if she could run off the stage, but the guards blocked every exit… plus, Jocelyn had her magic to pull her back. This was _hard_.

"Now," Jocelyn said smugly, a large bat appearing in her hand. Spikes showed up on it soon after.

Sarah stared back at her angrily. _Come on, __**think**__ of something_, she thought to herself, looking around at Jareth. His look of fear and worry hit her tenfold. He was scared for her… and soon after she died, Jocelyn would kill him. All this just for revenge? It was too far.

"Any last words?" Jocelyn asked.

Sarah's eyes stayed on Jareth, at his eyes. The room had gone silent in wait for her answer, enough that they heard her soft reply. "I love you, too, Jareth…" Talking started up as Jareth just stared back at her as though he could hardly believe his ears. So again, she spoke louder, "_I love you, Goblin King!_"

"That's _enough_!" Jocelyn shouted, silencing the room.

Jareth smile was bright, even at their impending death, for happiness. Yes… she finally knew it… she _did_ love him back. She found out a little too late, but it still made the both of them smile.

A hand slapped across her face, and she was forced to look back at Jocelyn with ultimate fury.

"You chose the wrong man to love," Jocelyn said furiously.

"Why's that? Are _you_ in love with him?"

"No… because look at the situation he's gotten you in. Why fight with him when you can fight with me _against_ him? Why would he love a normal human girl when in reality he can use you to meet his own needs - like everything he made you go through the last time you were here. I heard everything about it, yes, now tell me… why fight for him?"

Sarah looked to the bat she held and then back to her. "Seriously, this isn't a conversation you could've had with me _before_ bringing me to the stage of death?"

"I have Jareth in my palm now… there was no telling was sorts of things he could have whispered into your ear to keep you in his control." Jocelyn looked sincere, but could Sarah really trust her?

She looked at Jareth, whose mouth was now covered by the hands of some of the guards. He looked horrified, as though Jocelyn had gotten to her… well, her reaction hadn't been the best, but she wanted to figure out a way for them both to get out of this unscathed. She still trusted the fae with her life, her love. Jocelyn was doing some weird last minute attempt at having one less person to kill.

"If I do that, would you take me home?" she asked, still looking around the room at the corners of her eyes… what was that? Hoggle waving to her! What were those gestures? She looked to everywhere he pointed. There were goblins at every exit, behind the unknowing guards. She nearly smiled. Reinforcements!

"Whatever you so desire," Jocelyn said, looking triumphant.

"I desire…" she said, walking towards her with her hand outstretched. Jocelyn brought out her own hand to take it. But Sarah grabbed hold of the bat, "I desire for you to either drop this wish for revenge, or die trying for it."

Goblins gave a battle cry and ran into the room with grunts as they swung their weapons and bangs as guards fell over. Ludo walked in, giving a roar to call rocks to his aid - and they came rolling in as expected.

Sarah smiled at Jocelyn, "So what's it going to be?" She yanked the bat to her.

Jocelyn immediately yanked back, "My revenge and hate are all I have until I kill him _and_ you."

"Well then," Sarah replied, bringing her foot up to kick her in the stomach, pushing Jocelyn well away from her. "Sadly enough for you…. This is war."


	20. The Ring's Power

The room was in utter chaos with guards running around in circles to get away from the rocks and goblins besieging them. Jocelyn was backing up, furiously blowing goblins and rocks away from her with magic. She especially spent her attention on keeping goblins away from Jareth, who still lay in the middle of the floor chained up.

Sarah stood there, holding the spiked bat and continuing to advance towards Jocelyn. She had to find a way to distract Jocelyn from Jareth long enough, then maybe once Hoggle found a way to get him unchained he could take back the throne before she could find out what happened.

_Ah hah!_ she thought. "What happened to your idea of Jareth controlling me? I thought sure that you would be trying to undo the so-called control he has over me if that was true."

Jocelyn growled angrily as her attention turned back to her.

"Oh, so it _wasn't_ true, am I right?"

"You _insolent_ girl -"

"Come at me then, since it's finally obvious to you that I'm completely in control of my own mind… or, let me guess, you already knew I was, you just wanted to put some doubt in my mind."

Jocelyn's magic threw her across the room, causing her to drop the bat. When she sat up, after hitting the wall and having the breath knocked out of her, Jocelyn was already in front of her. "Yes, indeed I was trying to trick you, but it seems that Jareth put his heart in the hands of a very strong-minded girl… for a mere human." She used her magic to pick her up, and was about to throw her across the room again.

"Coward," Sarah spat.

Jocelyn stopped. "Excuse me?!"

"Jareth and I have no magic, so you've been using yours against us. That's the coward's way out if you're just going to use your magic against me to win this fight. Coward!" She was suddenly dropped to the ground, landing on her butt. Quickly standing up, she asked, "So now you play fair. Just because I said something. Where is your sense of righteousness? Just in being called a coward?"

Jocelyn growled. A sword appeared in her hand, and in Sarah's. "Shall we fight fair, or _not_?" she asked in frustration.

Sarah smiled, and held her silver sword up. Diamonds were in the hilt, and the sword itself was of the sharpest steel. It wasn't fancy, like Jocelyn's was - a sharp gold sword and a black hilt with red rubies. "Now _this_ I have at least a quarter of a chance in."

Jocelyn charged toward her, so Sarah had to quickly block her attack. She pushed down on her so hard that it was difficult to try to change her position to the offensive, Jocelyn was that much stronger than her. Her muscles screamed and began to wobble a bit. She looked over Jocelyn's shoulder to see that Hoggle had just undone Jareth's chains, and he had already begun to run toward her. She glared at him quickly, before mustering the strength to push Jocelyn off and begin swinging her sword.

Jareth had to back up from the fight and nod to her, before scurrying away.

_I have to keep distracting her_, Sarah thought as she attacked. She was losing energy easily with each swing, however, so she wondered what more she could be able to do against Jocelyn.

Soon enough, Sarah had the upper hand and Jocelyn was leaning back as far as she could to stay away from the blades while Sarah was closer to them. Close enough that she was soon able to spin Jocelyn's sword out of her hands and point her own at her. _Who ever said you need fencing lessons? It's hard to learn from experience, but it's the best way to figure out what best protects me - oohh…_

Jocelyn stood up and, with her magic, had thrown Sarah against a wall and turned to where Jareth had almost reached the throne to throw him against the opposite wall.

"Cheater," Sarah grumbled.

She glared at her before she smiled and paced thoughtfully. "Very _valiant_ effort, indeed, to win the throne back. But I have another proposition, Jareth. You so want your throne and your powers back? Your life? All I need is for your loved one here, your human girl, to be dead. And for _you_ to ask for my hand in marriage… that way we _both_ win."

_How does she win, unless… unless… __**ohhhh**__!_ She quickly brought her hands behind her to dig into her back pocket.

Jareth growled, "Never, Jocelyn! You want closure for your father's death? Just kill me, and leave Sarah alone!"

"Oh, _no_, it's too late for _that_, Jareth. Right now, it's my _new_ proposition or the highway."

Jareth looked over to Sarah with a scared look in his eyes.

Sarah stared back with a determined smile, and then looked at Jocelyn. "Hey! Hey, you cheater!" Jocelyn turned to her with anger. Sarah held up her ring.

"What would I want with that piece of garbage?"

"It's a little something _I_ got that _you didn't_." Before Jocelyn could comprehend what she meant, Sarah put it on her ring finger. She knew she'd been right about what she heard implicated in Jocelyn's demands.

Gold and silver magic wrapped itself first around her hand, then wound up her arm to the rest of her body. Jocelyn's magic was reversed so Sarah and Jareth fell to the ground, and Jareth made his way quickly to the throne. He sat down upon it, his outfit changing to a clean white suit. and Jocelyn screeched angrily. Sarah stood up to see that her clothes had also changed to a silver and gold ballgown, along with the magic. The sword she carried had turned to gold. The goblins had all "Oooooh"ed in awe. Was her _face_ gold, too?

Sarah looked at all of it in disgust. "_Too_ much, I liked my other sword and…" she looked at Jareth, "and my other ballgown." To her pleasant surprise, it all changed to what she said - what she wanted. _Does this mean __**I**__ have magic, too?_

Jocelyn did a sort of battle cry, and threw a magic ball Sarah's way.

Sarah automatically put her sword up in protection, but waited for a blow that never came. When she opened her eyes, she saw that the ball had stopped on her blade and continued to roll. She smiled and swung her sword so that the ball flew back at Jocelyn. It hit her hard and she went flying back into a wall, looking bedraggled. She walked toward the defeated woman.

"This can't be possible…" Jocelyn said softly.

"You were so focused on getting your revenge that you didn't think anything could stop you. That was your mistake." Sarah stood over Jocelyn now. "Come on, lets call a truce. You leave and don't come back, we won't cause you any problems and you don't cause _us_ any."

Jocelyn growled and reached for her. Something pounced over Sarah and on top of her…

"Autumn!" Sarah said happily. The Shakana looked over her shoulder to smile at Sarah, then turned back to Jocelyn to growl dangerously. Sarah pointed her sword at Jocelyn, "There is no other choice Joc - oh!"

A blast of magic jumped off of Jocelyn and into Sarah's sword, causing a lot of power to surge into her. Jocelyn went limp, her eyes closed.

"I - I didn't - I -"

An arm wrapped around her, and she looked up to see Jareth. "It's alright, she's not dead. You just sucked the magic out of her. It's yours now."

"I'm not sure I _want_ tainted magic, though," Sarah said with a pout.

Jareth laughed and bent down to kiss her lips gently. This was going to be the life.


	21. Promises and Healing

The goblins certainly enjoyed prisoner duty as they chained up Jocelyn and all her cronies - including the trolls. Battle had been ensuing for a short time after Sarah accidentally took Jocelyn's magic, mainly because Sir Didymus and the goblins kept biting the guards. Autumn gladly followed the goblins taking the prisoners out of the Labyrinth to keep a close eye on Jocelyn. Jareth fixed up the Labyrinth so that they could go through and come back with ease.

"Don't touch it, what if it takes your magic, _too_?!" Sarah freaked out as Jareth's hand touched hers holding the sword. She'd even jumped back from him

"It's not going to do that," he said calmly, grabbing her arm and pulling her close. The sword dangled in between them until he took it out of her hands and smirked. "See? No harm comes to me." He put it down to lean against the nearby wall and pulled Sarah ever closer to look fondly into her brown eyes, stroking her cheek.

"What, because you're my fiancé and the ring came from you?"

"Yes, but," he said softly, "not fiancé…."

"Oh," she replied softly in surprise. "So _that's_ how the ring works?"

With a nod, he replied, "But we could have a mortal wedding like I've studied in your world. Bring your brother and parents -"

"I'll love it _without _my family joining in," she said with a smile. "You whisked me away to trap me here… but I'll stay here of my own accord. If I indeed have Jocelyn's magic, we can visit them in animal form to see how they're doing - well, my brother. My dad and stepmother won't even notice my absence."

"They will -" Jareth started to say.

"Trust me," she said. "I just want to stay here with you now. I'm not going _anywhere_."

His hand slowly and softly moved from her cheek to the back of her neck. "Really?" he whispered almost disbelievingly.

"Yes," she whispered back. "Just promise me something?"

"Anything."

"Don't leave me like that again. Whatever we do, we do _together_."

A bark sounded behind her and she turned to see Ambrosias, who was spinning around happily, panting heavily.

"Ah, that reminds me," Jareth said, snapping his fingers. Merlin appeared beside Ambrosias.

"Merlin!" she said as the dog jumped up on her and licked her face. Sarah laughed. She had all she needed. Her friends and… her husband.

"_Sarah!_" Hoggle shouted, running up to her. The dogs ran off to investigate and play. "_Do you know what you just did? That ring -_"

She giggled, "Yes, Hoggle, Jareth just told me."

He stared at her, dumfounded.

"Yes, it may be hard to believe but… I am in love with him."

He grumbled, "I should've known something was up when you were so freaked out about him being hurt or chained up."

Sarah gasped in realization, "_Serboa_! Where is he?"

"Oh! Well…" Hoggle said sheepishly as Ludo came up to her with Serboa in hand. Literally in his large hand.

Ludo set him down in her arms and said, "Friend.. _dying_!"

Serboa indeed felt weaker in her arms, there wasn't much holding him together now. His eyes were half open and he had a slight smile on his face. "You defeated her… just like you… said you would…."

She looked up at Jareth, "Please tell me you have healing powers - _anything_!"

He shook his head, and she almost burst into hopeless tears until he said, "But _you_ do."

"... Huh?"

"Jocelyn had healing powers… she tried using them on her father after the incident but they didn't work because he was already dead. She hasn't used them since, but I believe I recall her telling me once that to use her healing she used her own strength. It was enough that she almost killed _herself_ trying to bring him back."

"So I just take his injuries as my own?" she asked.

"Not exactly - thank heavens," he added as an afterthought. "Your strength is sapped away and you feel that pain. You'll pass out for a few days with the suddenness of it, but he'll be healed and you'll recuperate quickly."

She nodded eagerly, and almost set about doing it right then and there.

Jareth gently touched her arm, "Not here." Suddenly, they'd transported to a room with a large, majestic bed. Navy blue blankets and pillows on a mahogany, king-sized bed. Looking around, the room seemed a barren wasteland. "I was saving this for after having a wedding ceremony just for you, but I might as well show you now. Much as I'd hate to say it, whenever you're ready you can decorate it as you like."

Sarah took off her shoes to sit in the middle of the bed cross-legged, laying Serboa in front of her. She looked around and smiled, "Don't worry if you think it will be girlish. Thank you."

He sat down next to her. "Back to what we'd been talking about now," he said, causing her to wait with bated breath. "Sarah I _promise_… whatever issues we must deal with will be done together. I will never leave you behind again."

She hugged him, catching him off guard. "Thank you even more."

"Hey," he said, holding her close and moving her chin to look him in the eyes once more. "From now to always. You have the magic of a fae now that you're mine… you can live as long as me so we'll see many battles together."

"Immortality?... Not bad…." Sarah said with a little smile.

Jareth smiled back, and pulled her in for one last passionate kiss before he said. "Now, hopefully this works."

"It will," she said, turning to look at Serboa. "It has to." Before she started, she thought about the clothes she would prefer to sleep in for however many days it would take for her to recuperate from this. Opening her eyes, she now wore shorts and a tank top - Jareth looked as though he was shocked at how much skin she showed. "What? You haven't come to see me in the summer or something?"

"Too hot for my owl form," he mumbled. But she hadn't quite heard.

She put her hands on Serboa's fragile little body, and looked into her mind wondering, _How can I put my strength into him?_ Slowly, with this question, she felt the strength seeping out of her and into Serboa. Her vision receded just as slowly, enough that she nearly fell over before she lost consciousness completely - she had to force herself to stay up. _I need Serboa to heal, he needs __**all**__ my strength._ At this, all of her strength spilled out and everything went black.


	22. The Magic Behind It All

Sarah slowly opened her eyes, the muscles in her body aching slightly as she looked around. She lay on her back with the covers sitting on top of her, staring at the beautifully detailed ceiling full of swirls and diamonds. Did it work? Did she save Serboa?

"Oh, good Sleeping Beauty, you're awake. I almost called Jareth to give you true love's kiss so you could finally wake up, but it's okay - you did it on your own."

Her head snapped to the side to see Serboa in a chair next to the bed, then she sat up to give him a hug. She didn't even care that the pain of doing so was unbearable, she was just happy to see that he was okay. "How long have I been out?"

"Four and a half days, why do you even want to know? You were just asleep."

"It's just you've been fully healed for _that long_ and I wasn't awake to see it. The only time I saw you without any injuries was for a short bit after Bjorg healed your leg and before Jocelyn messed you up again."

"Oh, _shut_ up," he said as she pulled away to lay back down, but he grinned anyways. She giggled lightly.

Autumn came bounding in and hopped on top of her, thankfully placing her weight on either side of Sarah, licking her face. To think that she was such a creature as would kill somebody with ease - who had an evil heart - and Sarah felt glad not to have had her kill Jocelyn. Even with all that she'd put them through, Sarah wouldn't stoop to her level… though Jareth had seemed rather disappointed with that.

Jareth seemed to read her mind as he walked in the door. "Autumn could have taken care of her, and we would have nothing more to worry about. "

"We _already_ have nothing more to worry about. _I_ have her magic, and I won't be stooping to _her_ level for _any_ reason." Autumn hopped off of her to give Jareth some room. He lay down next to her, surprising her slightly until she realized that not only was this her room but it was his as well. "So.. when is the wedding?"

"Whenever you'd like," he said, lacing his fingers with hers.

"I want to do it as soon as I'm healed."

He raised his eyebrows at her. "Noon tomorrow, then?"

"Sounds great."

"You're rushing it a bit, are you not?"

"I don't care. I'm not going another day without doing it… then it'll feel real."

"Will it really?" he asked, squeezing her hand softly. "It took me a while to realize that I was no longer king of the Labyrinth. And that was when I got chained up."

She giggled, "The chains were the moot point. You don't think the wedding will do that for me?"

"Depends," he replied with a small smile.

Two goblins walked in, one with a plate full of food and the other with a small table Sarah could prop on the bed. Jareth stood and turned to her.

"You'll have to sit up."

"I wanted to sit up anyways -"

"Ah, she can do it _herself_, Jareth!" Serboa said with a wave of his hand. "She sat up with ease just to hug me."

"I was happy to bear the pain in order to hug your frail little body," she replied.

"Hey!" he said indignantly. "I'm not frail!"

"You've been hurt a lot, though, you have to admit -"

"Because I keep on being turned into the target for pain," he grumbled. "And besides, what makes you think I need you to put yourself in excruciating pain just to acknowledge that I'm all right?"

Jareth chuckled as he brought his hands up under Sarah's underarms and helped her sit up. The pain stabbed at her body, caused her to groan under the pressure, but it soon passed as a pillow was set behind her and she was sitting up. It was a good thing her arms were still functional… poor Serboa. "I am _so_ sorry you went through this pain," she told the goblin seriously.

He humphed indignantly.

The table was set up over her lap after Jareth helped Sarah cross her legs, and the food placed in front of her. "Wow," she said softly as she looked it over. The goblins had made a pile of maybe four chocolate chip pancakes with chocolate syrup and maple syrup covering them, as well as scrambled eggs and hash browns. "Not only did I not realize you guys know how to make the exact same kind of food down here as above ground, but do you think I'm going to be able to eat all of this?"

"I figured, so that's why I'm eating, too," Jareth said, sitting cross-legged in front of her with a fork in hand. "And we're not _that_ different from aboveground." He went for the hash browns.

Sarah grinned as she brought her fork down to block his. "Hey, that's _my_ food, you can have the leftovers."

"Whatever happened to 'sharing is caring?'"

"You'll have to fork fight me first." Sarah laughed as she started tapping her fork on his.

Jareth… well, he looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "What is the point of this tomfoolery? Are we reducing ourselves to mere children?"

Snorting, Sarah shook her head and used a fork and knife to cut up her pancakes. "Never mind, Jareth, you can eat."

Sarah woke up a few days later and stretched with very little soreness. _Awesome, I'm all better,_ she thought, eagerly throwing the blankets off of her and moving her legs so they dangled off the side of the bed, swinging slightly. Then she stood, letting her feet adjust to the weight it hadn't carried for about a week before pacing around the room to look at everything. There wasn't much to look at, that was certain, but there were cabinets.

She opened one of the cabinets to find rows and rows of crystal balls. She wasn't even sure how many were in there, but she wondered if they were here all along and if Jocelyn either hadn't found them or didn't think anything of them if she did.

Jareth had offered one to her when they first met. Had he really meant it, besides what he did with the crystal ball just one week before - turning it into the ring she had brought?

_ "I've brought you a gift," Jareth said, switching the crystal ball from hand to hand in smooth motions._

_ "What is it?" Sarah asked nervously, watching it with her eyes._

_ "It's a crystal," he replied, matter-of-factly, "nothing more, but if you turn it this way and look into it, it will show you your dreams." He turned it over in his hands, holding it gently. "But this isn't a gift for an ordinary girl who takes care of a screaming baby. Do you want it?" He asked, holding it out. "Then forget the baby."_

_ She lightly shook her head, "I can't. I appreciate what you're offering, but I want my brother back. He must be scared -"_

_ "Sarah," the Goblin King cut her off impatiently, the crystal turning into a snake that wrapped around his hand. He lightly untied it and held it deftly in his hands, looking at it. "Don't defy me." He quickly looked at her and threw it in her face._

Sarah gave a small chuckle at the memory - if not for how much she freaked out about a snake being thrown into her face, but how it seemed that Jareth had already seen her as no normal teenage girl. Had it been a ring then, or some other dream of hers?... The dream would have been a life of her father noticing her, her mother coming back and not being left alone at home to watch Toby. So that meant that her dream really _had_ been to marry Jareth, and he just took advantage of that hidden wish.

"Do I hear someone's brain putting things together?" a voice asked.

Sarah turned to see Jareth leaning on the door frame, a smirk on his face. She returned a small smile and looked back at the collection. "You knew all along that you wanted to be with me."

"You are a remarkably smart girl. I had noticed you all along, especially because you were reciting that book so often in the spot where I usually came… since it was away from the city and from the duties of my kingdom."

"It's amazing how everything comes to be. I wonder… why do you have so many?"

"I can use more than one at a time," he said. She could hear his footsteps coming up behind her. "I could have used it, too, because though Jocelyn believed I hardly had any powers my crystals are my greatest weapons. They can be turned into anything I need. But, I had trust in you that you would be able to handle it. That you would find out the power of your ring, and use it. We're both stronger than Jocelyn, which she didn't realize. I could have shown her what power I _really_ had," he wrapped his arms around her, burying his face into her hair, "but I'll be saving that for when we really need it."

Her mouth was open in surprise at the power of the crystals, and she stared at them openly. Then she brought the back of her left hand up to her face to stare at the ring. How could such inanimate objects wield such power?

"Your ring, you know, already held some type of power which was needed for me to place _any_ _kind_ of magic into it. I was lucky to find out from the wiseman a few days after you beat me that you had given him the ring in exchange for information. Where did you get it from?"

"It was my mom's… my last remembrance of her after she left me and my dad. Wha-what kind of power was in it?"

"It offered you protection. It still does, I can't take it out. Not that I would want to."

_It did?_ she thought back. _I was never injured before the Labyrinth. And when the cleaners came after Hoggle and I, we were lucky enough to push the loose wall in when it was being so difficult against our meagerly combined strengths. After that, I gave it away and everything had already felt harder to handle. Keeping myself from getting my head taken off before Hoggle found and saved me, saving myself and Hoggle from falling into the Bog of Eternal Stench, and navigating the Escher Room without a hitch._

"Hey," Jareth said softly, taking her chin and turning her head to face him. He kept a tight hold around her waist. "Today is not the day to be worrying about it. The goblins have your dress ready for the wedding, and then you and I can spend some special time together _as_ husband and wife."

A warm feeling entered the pit of her stomach, and yet it also twisted itself into knots.

He smiled, "Don't be nervous. I'll make your life wonderful."

"I don't doubt that at all. It's just my dad and Toby -"

"They'll be fine," he said soothingly. "We can keep watch over them by checking in every so often to see that they're safe. We can be their guardians."

"Yeah… I like that…."

"Then that's all we need to worry about, next to this kingdom and each other. Are you happy?"

"Yes. Are you?"

"Immensely so," he replied, bringing his lips down to hers for a kiss.

_Life with Jareth won't be so bad - it'll be wonderful even…. It's only forever. Not long at all. 3_

* * *

**_Hello everyone, lisa602 here! Thank you so much for following Sarah and Jareth in this brand new adventure. Don't cry yet, I have another adventure on the way - though with a different character that you all know. Look out for the new story, As the World Falls Down_, when I publish the first chapter. Happy Spring! :D**


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